From the depths
by Wulipix
Summary: A new evil has come into the play and he's much stronger then anything the digi destined have ever faced. (after digi 1 and before digi 2)
1. From the Depths

Disclaimer: We (dreamcatcher and I) Don't own Digimon some mean company does, so don't sue us 'cause you won't get much  
  
  
Part One: Return to the Digiworld  
  
The sun set across the sky and created a picture-perfect sunset. However, the redhead boy  
failed to notice this amazing view from his bedroom window. He was too busy typing away on his computer. A sound informed the boy that he had an email.   
"I wonder what it could be?" Izzy asked himself. He opened up the email, which read:   
"Izzy, my boy, I'm afraid I have bad news. There's some trouble brewing here in the Digiworld. A new evil Digimon has been trying to take over. You should be able to find four kids that might help you out with this new evil. I'm sending you their crests and digivices through this email. Just click on the attached file. Without these four kids, you might find yourself in a jam and not be able to defeat this new evil. Oh, shoot! Coffee's done. Gotta go now! Gennai." Izzy clicked on a file, which was attached to the email. Suddenly, eight small objects shot out of his computer screen and landed on his bed. Izzy took a quick glance at the objects, then grabbed his cell phone and started to dial a phone number. A few moments later, he could hear it ringing. After three or four rings, a click was heard, then a woman's voice answered,   
"Hello? This is the Kamiya residence. How may I help you?"  
"Good evening, Mrs. Kamiya. This is Izzy Koushiro. Is Tai at home?" Izzy asked Tai's  
mother...  
The bus slightly bumped as it drove through the streets of Japan. However, the black-haired boy didn't even notice it as he stared out the window. It was great to finally be back home again.   
'Home.' The thought stuck in the boy's mind. Was that really where he was? Was this really his home? 'Of course not, I was never welcomed here,' his mind argued. How long  
had it been since he was last in Japan? 'Four years now,' his mind reminded him. The bus stopped for a moment to pick up more passengers. A soft plop told him that someone took the seat right next to him. Zack didn't bother to look away from the window, however.   
"Hiya," a cheery voice greeted. When Zack didn't respond, the voice started again. "Hello! I'm talking to you! Don't pretend you didn't hear me," the voice demanded, getting louder with each word. Zack turned to have a look at his current companion. It was a boy  
about his age, with sandy blond hair. The kid was crossing his arms in agitation.   
"Hi," was the short reply as Zack turned his head back towards the window.  
"See? It doesn't kill ya to talk," the kid replied.  
"What's your name? Mine's Yuuchi Satori. Nice to meet you."  
"Zack." It was his adopted American name that he had given himself. He despised his Japanese name and wouldn't respond to it.   
"Gee, you don't talk much, do you?" Yuuchi asked. Zack ignored this and noticed it  
was his stop. He was glad to get away from this annoying boy who didn't seem to shut up. Grabbing everything he had brought with him, he climbed off the bus and walked the short distance to his home. Yuuchi watched the kid with silent eyes. He could tell that the boy wanted nothing but to be left alone. But he wasn't going to let it be that way. He shrugged his shoulders and stared at the roof of the bus, satisfied with the current silence...  
"Yes, Mimi. You have to go!" Izzy remarked sternly on the phone. "All of us have to go, including four new Digi-Destined. Who? Well, I'm not exactly sure... Gennai never mentioned any names in his email. Don't worry, we'll find them. Remember that we're meeting at the park at 12 PM tomorrow. Don't be late! Good night, Mimi." He hung up the phone, stretched out his arms, and yawned. Izzy glanced at his clock and noticed it  
was 11:15. Izzy had finally finished calling all of his friends. Now, it was a matter of finding the kids that Genai mentioned.   
'Where could they be? How come Genai didn't mention them earlier?' Similar questions flew through his mind. They had agreed to split up into groups to find the kids. Then afterwards, they would return to the Digiworld and face whatever new danger plagued its existance. He couldn't wait to see Tentomon again, they had only been gone a couple of days now. But it must have been years to the Digimon. Plenty of time for whatever new evil lurked on Digiworld to take over. Izzy yawned again.   
'Plenty of time to think this all over tomorrow.' With that thought, Izzy climbed into his bed and fell asleep...  
It was half past noon the next day at the park, where the kids agreed to meet. Everyone was sitting on the grass in a circle, while Izzy was standing. "It's vital that we find these four Digi-Destined before we depart for the Digiworld," Izzy explained.   
"But, how are we gonna find them, Izzy?" Sora asked.   
"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."   
"These should help us out," Izzy explained as he opened his backpack and pulled out four digivices. Everyone gasped when they saw the digivices.   
"How did you get those?" Tai blurted out.   
"Gennai sent them to me last night through my computer, along with these." Izzy reached into his backpack again and pulled out four tags, complete with crests. "If anybody doesn't mind, I plan on holding onto the crests for safekeeping, until we find their owners," Izzy advised as he carefully placed the crests back in his backpack.  
"Okay, we have agreed  
earlier to split up into teams of two. Tai's with Kari, Matt's with T.K., Sora's with Joe, and I'm with Mimi."   
"All right. Let's get going," Tai exclaimed as he and everyone else stood up.  
"Wait a minute!" Izzy yelled. Tai groaned and asked,   
"What now, Izzy?" "It would be best if each team carries one of these digivices," he  
suggested as he handed a digivice to Kari, Matt, and Sora.   
"They will indicate if one of the Digi-Destined is in the area."   
"That will help out a lot," Kari remarked.   
"How about we meet back here in an hour. Okay, everyone?" Tai asked. Everyone nodded in approval. While the others left to search the city, Matt and T.K. decided to stay in the park and look around.  
"Matt, why are we looking in the park?" T.K. asked his older brother.   
"Truth is, I'm not really sure," Matt admitted. "I have a strange feeling that one of them  
is right here." Suddenly, the digivice in Matt's hand started to vibrate.   
"What is it, Matt?" T.K. asked when he realized Matt stopped walking. He slowly  
walked around in a circle, watching the digivice as he walked. Matt stopped when the vibration became stronger.   
"This way!" he exclaimed as he ran off, with T.K. following as fast as he could...  
A young girl was sitting on a park bench, reading a book. She took a quick glance at her watch and sighed.  
"What's taking her so long?" she murmured as she continued to read. She tucked a small lock of her long chestnut hair behind her ear. Two small black scrungies held a small pair of pigtails in place. Her amethyst eyes looked up from her book. She heard some  
rustling from a nearby bush. After a minute, she shrugged her shoulders.   
"Must have been the wind," she told herself. She looked up again when two young boys  
emerged from the bushes. She could tell that they were brothers. The taller one around her age was looking at something is his hand, while the smaller boy watched...  
"Hey, Matt," T.K. yelled, pulling on his brother's shirt.   
"What is it?" Matt asked. He bent down on one knee and T.K. whispered in his ear.   
"Is that her?"  
"Who?" Matt whispered.   
"That girl over there!" T.K. whispered.   
"Is she the one we're looking for?" Matt looked up and took a quick glance at the girl sitting on the bench.   
"Strange," he thought.   
"I have some strange feeling that I've seen her somewhere before." Matt shook off the feeling and looked back down at his brother.   
"Could be, T.K.," he whispered. "She's the only one here, and..."  
"Can I help you with something?" they heard the girl ask. She had gotten up from the bench and was walking toward them. She was wearing a purple T-shirt with a  
pink crescent moon on the front, baggy black cargo shorts, and short black hiking boots. Matt noticed that the digivice's vibrations became stronger as the girl came closer. He decided to make sure that she was indeed one of the Digi-Destined. A plan quickly formed  
in his head.  
"I haven't seen you around before. Are you new here?" Matt asked. "Yes, I am," the girl replied with a smile.   
"I'm Marisa."  
"I'm Matt, and this is my little brother, T.K.," Matt said. He extended his hand to Marisa, which contained the digivice.   
"Nice to meet you," Marisa said as she took Matt's hand to shake it. Suddenly, a rainbow-like glow emerged from the  
digivice.   
"Marisa's definitely one of us," Matt thought to himself. Shocked by what just happened,  
Marisa quickly let go of Matt's hand, causing the digivice to fall to the ground.   
"What was that?" she asked...  
Meanwhile, a young girl was roller blading down the sidewalk as fast as she could. "Sorry!" she yelled as she bumped into a young man. "I hope Marisa's not angry with me," she muttered to herself. She shook her head as an attempt to get her short blond hair out of her face. She stopped for a moment to look at a clock on a bank. The time was 1:05. "Aww, man! I'm an hour late! She's gonna kill me!" the girl cried out as she built up speed. Suddenly, she turned the corner and SMACK! She ran into a young boy and they both fell to the ground...  
"Are you all right, Tai?" Kari asked as she tried to help her brother stand up.   
"Well, I have had better days," Tai muttered as he stood up.   
"Why don't you watch where you're going!" he yelled at the girl who ran into him. She was wearing roller blades, a pair of jeans, and a red-and-blue striped tank top.   
"Look, I'm really sorry about that," she apologized as she carefully got up. Her blue eyes were also pleading for forgiveness. Tai felt his little sister elbow him.   
"All right," he finally said. Kari elbowed him again.   
"What?" he exclaimed.   
"You should apologize too, Tai," Kari explained. "You shouldn't have yelled at her like  
that. It was just an accident." Tai groaned a bit and turned toward the girl.   
"I'm sorry for yelling at you," he grumbled. The girl smiled a bit.   
"Thanks," she said. "Sorry to run off, but I'm supposed to meet someone in the park over an hour ago!" She sped past Tai and Kari.   
"That's weird," Tai thought. "I got a strange feeling of déjà vu from that girl." He was too busy watching the girl that he didn't hear Kari yelling for him.  
"Huh? What is it, Kari?"   
"I think that girl is one of the Digi-Destined, Tai," Kari explained.   
"Why do you think that?" Tai asked.   
"The digivice reacted when she went past me."  
"Aww, man! We probably lost her!" Tai exclaimed.  
"Didn't she say she had to go to the park to meet someone?" Kari asked. Tai thought hard about it.  
"Yeah, she did! Let's go!" Tai ran as fast as he could to the park, with Kari at his heels...  
  
A boy slowly walked down the streets, holding a few bags in his hands. He had jet-black hair and was wearing a red T-shirt and denim jeans. His dark brown eyes watched the people pass him as they went about their daily business. His parents had chewed him out  
since he had gotten home so late, and his punishment was to get the groceries. Two kids caught his eye, one was staring at his hand and the other was looking around.   
"Got anything yet, Izzy?" Mimi asked dully, looking at the shorter kid next to her. Izzy was about to say no when the little device in his hand started to respond.  
"As a matter of fact, I do have something," Izzy replied. Mimi's head snapped up and looked around. A fairly tall kid was walking towards them. He was carrying a few bags as he made his way. Mimi looked around a little more, but that was the only kid she  
saw in the crowd of people.   
"Izzy, is that's the guy?" Mimi whispered, pointing to the black haired kid. Izzy looked up and pointed the digivice in the direction Mimi was pointing. The digivice in his hand was now vibrating harder then it previously was.   
"I think you're right," Izzy confirmed.  
Zack looked at his watch. It wasn't that late. His parents would still be working by now. A light tap on his shoulder disturbed him from his thoughts. Zack saw the two kids he had been studying earlier standing before him.   
"What do you want?" Zack asked. The girl looked down at her companion, who nodded. "I was wondering, do you know what this is? I found it on the street," Izzy asked, holding out the digivice. Zack looked at the thing and arched an eyebrow. Zack set down one of the grocery bags and went to grab the device to have a better look at it. As soon as his  
hand touched the digivice, it lit up and he pulled his hand back quickly.   
"Umm, I have to get going. Gotta get these groceries home before they spoil," Zack  
stuttered quickly before walking off.   
"Now what?" Mimi asked.  
"We follow him. We can't go to the Digiworld without him," Izzy theorized, running in the direction Zack went, with Mimi following behind...   
"I still don't know why we have to look around here," Joe admitted nervously as he looked around. He and Sora have found themselves in one of the worst sections of the city. The walls of the old, run-down brick buildings were covered with graffiti, the alleys and sidewalks were littered with garbage, and sirens were heard every five minutes or so.   
"I told you before, Joe. The digivice reacted a little bit earlier, so the kid's gotta be around here somewhere," Sora reminded him. She was about ready to give up until the digivice started to vibrate.   
"Hey, it's reacting again!" Sora exclaimed as she quickly scanned the area for any kids. A sandy-blond haired boy was carrying a garbage bag to a nearby dumpster. The kid was wearing an army-green T-shirt with black shorts. Joe and Sora looked at each other, then walked over to the kid. Yuuchi looked up when he heard footsteps walking towards his way. Two kids had approached him.   
"Hiya! What brings you to this side of the neighborhood?" Yuuchi asked. He hadn't seen these kids around before.  
"We're...looking for someone," Joe replied hesitantly.   
"Well, I know a lot of people in this neighborhood, so maybe I can help you out," Yuuchi offered.   
"You see, we're looking for the owner of this," Sora announced. She held out the digivice, which was now vibrating more then it was before.   
Yuuchi's viridian eyes looked over the device in her hand. He reached out to grab it, so he could have a better look. As soon as he touched the device, it lit up. He didn't seem bothered one bit, though, since he thought it was supposed to do that.   
"No, sorry. I'm not sure who it belongs to. Oh, sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Yuuchi. Nice to meet you," Yuuchi greeted.   
"I'm Sora and that's Joe," Sora introduced.   
"Well, I should get back to work. I'll be here most of the day, so if you want to visit, you're more then welcome to," Yuuchi mentioned after giving the device back to Sora. "Well, that went better then I expected it to," Sora exclaimed after he had left.  
"Yeah, he didn't even ask questions when it lit up," Joe admitted...  
Meanwhile, back in the park, Marisa was sitting back on the bench, listening to Matt as he explained the situation.   
"So, you're saying that there's a digital world filled with creatures called Digimon?" she asked.   
"Uh-huh," T.K. nodded.   
"And I have to go with you and your friends to this 'Digiworld,' along with three other kids?"   
"Hard to believe, but yeah," Matt replied.   
Marisa was quietly thinking to herself for a moment. "That would explain all that weird stuff that happened a few days ago," she muttered out loud.  
"All those monsters attacking, first Japan, then everywhere else around the world. Then, there was that upside-down island up in the sky, and that weird-looking metal cube with that hideous creature on top...Those creatures that attacked, where they Digimon?"  
"Yeah," Matt admitted, "but they were all evil Digimon."   
"What about that island in the sky?" Marisa asked as she stood up.  
"That was File Island in the Digiworld," T.K. answered.   
"According to a friend of ours," Matt explained, "there's trouble back in the Digiworld again, and we need to find four more Digi-Destined to help us out. You're one of them, and as soon as we find the rest, we're leaving for the Digiworld."  
"But, I can't just leave!" Marisa exclaimed. "Oh, don't worry, Marisa," T.K. said cheerfully.   
"We'll only be gone for a few minutes cuz time passes differently in the Digiworld."   
"It's not that, T.K.," Marisa explained.   
"You see, I'm supposed to meet my sister here and I don't know what's taking her so  
long. It's been over an hour now."   
"Hey, Marisa! Sorry I'm late," they heard a girl shout. Marisa looked up at the same girl that Tai ran into earlier. She was now wearing red-and-blue striped sneakers on her feet.  
Her roller blades were connected by a bungee cord and were hanging from her shoulder. "What took you so long, Marni?" Marisa asked as she approached her sister.   
"Well, it's a long story," Marni explained. "Practice took a lot longer than I thought. By the time I got out, it was almost 12:30. I got lost for about ten minutes, I crashed into some boy a while ago, and he was really angry with me..." She stopped talking when she noticed Matt and T.K. standing nearby. "Do you know them?" Marni asked.  
"I just met them while I was waiting for you," Marisa explained.  
"This is Matt, and his brother, T.K. They've been looking for..."   
Before Marisa could continue, Tai and Kari arrived. They were both out of breath from running.   
"Tai, Kari, are you all right?" Matt asked as he and T.K. approached them.   
"Just...give us...a minute, okay?" Tai gasped.   
"You two again?" Marni exclaimed.   
"Where you trying to catch up with me or something?" An idea quickly came to Tai's head.   
"Umm...yeah, we were. You see, my sister, Kari, found something on the ground, and we think you might have dropped it."  
"Well, lemme take a look," Marni asked. Kari walked up to Marni and opened her hand. Lying on it was the digivice, which was vibrating like crazy. Marni reached out her hand to pick it up, so she could look at it. When she touched the digivice, it lit up with a  
colorful beam of light.   
"Whoa, cool!" Marni exclaimed as she moved her hand away. "I'll admit, it doesn't belong to me, but can I have it anyway?"   
"Of course, you can," Tai agreed as Marni snatched the digivice from Kari's open hand. "It  
was yours all along, anyway."  
"Huh?" Marni replied, obviously confused by what Tai said.   
"I can explain everything to you, Marni," Marisa told her as she led her to the bench. As Marisa tried to explain, Tai asked,   
"Who was that, Matt?"  
"That's Marisa. She's Marni's sister," Matt explained. "Marisa is also one of the Digi-Destined. It'd probably be easier for Marni if her sister explains everything to her." "Okay," Tai muttered as they waited for Marisa to wrap things up with Marni...  
Izzy and Mimi eventually followed Zack to an apartment house. He opened one of the doors and had a look inbefore entering. His parents weren't home yet. He started to put away the groceries his parents so kindly asked him to get. Zack was almost done when  
there was a knock on the door.  
"Be there in a minute,"he shouted. He glanced at the clock. It couldn't be his parents. It was too early. Of course, maybe dad blew his job over again and just went out to get  
drunk, who knew. Zack put the last of the groceries into the fridge then went to the door.   
He opened it a bit to see who it was. It was the same two kids he ran into earlier. Zack arched an eyebrow and opened the door up more. "What do you want?" he asked, eyeing the kids.   
"Uh, we were wondering if you could come with us," Mimi suggested. Zack glanced at  
the clock again. It was getting late, and he didn't really feel like being home when his parents arrived anyway. Of course, who knew what these two kids were planning? But they were a couple of kids, so there wasn't much that they could do, and he needed to get  
away from the house anyway.   
"Sure, why not? It's not like I have anything better to do," he replied as he walked out and closed the door behind him. "Where to?" he asked.   
"The park. By the way, this is Mimi and I'm Izzy," Izzy introduced.  
"I'm Zack," he replied, following the kids towards the park, where they had agreed to meet...  
Yuuchi slumped on the ground, exhausted from all the previous work. He wasn't very fond of having to help out with their family's business, but who was he to complain? At least he got paid well, that's all that mattered. He summoned up enough energy to get back on his feet. He was about to leave when he saw Sora and Joe from earlier. They were walking towards him. He waited for them to reach where he was currently standing.   
"Hey, you came back after all!" Yuuchi exclaimed.  
"Yeah, listen, we're heading over to the park. Would you like to come?" Sora asked.   
"I'd have to ask my parents first, if you don't mind, but sure I'll join you," Yuuchi replied. "Good! The sooner we leave this place, the better," Joe muttered out loud.  
"Joe!" Sora warned, eyeing him.   
"What? This place gives me the creeps," Joe admitted.   
"Joe, every place gives you the creeps," Sora retorted, rolling her eyes.  
"Don't worry, there's no one to be afraid of here. Come on, I'll take you to my house," Yuuchi said as he walked off. The two shrugged and followed Yuuchi. He led them to a  
small house not too far from the park.   
"Umm, can you guys stay here? I'm not sure how my mom will react to brining total strangers to my house," he asked, looking the two over.  
"No! We should be fine," Sora assured him.   
"Thanks," Yuuchi said as he headed into the house. They waited a few minutes and he emerged with a smile on his face. "Permission granted," Yuuchi announced. With that, the three kids headed to the park, where they would meet the others...  
"So, lemme get this straight," Marni retorted a bit suspiciously. "We are going to another world filled with monsters and a bunch of other weird stuff, and we need to save that world in order to save ours?"   
"Fromwhat I understand, yeah," Marisa replied.   
"Sounds cool! When do we leave?" Marni asked excitedly, catching everyone by surprise.  
"As soon as everyone else gets here, we're outta here," Tai announced.   
"It's not that easy, Tai," Matt reminded him. "If our friends can't find those other  
two kids..."  
"Hey, Tai! We're back," Izzy shouted. All heads turned his way as the redhead kid approached them. He was followed shortly by Mimi, and a fairly tall kid, who was looking around.   
"You found him?" Tai asked.   
"Yeah. He doesn't talk much, though," Mimi admitted openly.  
"So, these are the other kids you told me about, huh?" Zack asked, looking the kids over. Izzy and Mimi explained the whole situation to him on the way to the park.   
"Well, that makes three out of four. I wonder if Joe and Sora had any luck," Matt wondered. Some rustling from the bushes told them that someone else was about  
to join them.   
"As a matter of fact, we did," Sora admitted, followed by Joe and a sandy-blond kid with  
green eyes. Yuuchi was looking the group over when he saw a familiar face.   
"Well, look who it is! Mr. Grumpy himself," Yuuchi proclaimed with a smile.  
"You know him?" Joe asked.   
"We met on the bus going home one day," Yuuchi confessed.   
"Yeah, the annoying little twirp couldn't keep his mouth shut," Zack informed  
everyone. Yuuchi gave Zack a quick dirty look.  
"Okay, now that everyone met," Marni interrupted, "how do we get to the Digiworld?" Before anyone could answer her, a massive beam of multi-colored light shined down on the twelve children. Marisa gasped as she started to rise up in the air. She looked up and  
noticed that she wasn't the only one floating.   
"Does that answer your question?" Yuuchi asked Marni a bit sarcastically. Surprisingly, no one saw the twelve kids float up in the sky and then vanish into thin air...  
"Tai? Yoo-hoo, Tai?" The familiar voice slowly woke up Tai. He looked into the face of his old friend, Agumon, and for a moment, thought he was still dreaming.   
"Give me a few more minutes, Mom," he grumbled as he lied back down and closed his eyes.  
"Time to wake up, everyone!" the familiar voice of Gatomon yelled.   
  
An ear-piercing whistle snapped Tai into alertness, along with everyone else.  
"Good morning, sleepy-head," Gatomon greeted Kari, who was yawning a little bit.  
"Oh, Gatomon!" Kari exclaimed as she hugged her Digimon. "Wow! You kept my whistle all this time." Gatomon smiled a bit as she looked down at the silver histle hanging from her neck.   
"I promised I'd keep it with me always," she admitted. Tai stood up on the sandy beach and looked around. The area looked vaguely familiar to him, yet it was different than what he had remembered.   
"Agumon, are we on File Island?" Tai asked a bit uncertainly.   
"Yup. Looks different, doesn't it?" Agumon asked.   
"Sure does," Tai muttered.  
"So, this is the Digiworld?" he heard Marni ask. He and the others, including their Digimon, turned around. Marni, Marisa, Zack, and Yuuchi were standing there, staring curiously at the Digimon with wide eyes and open mouths.   
"Yup, we're on File Island now," Tai replied.   
"Wow!" Yuuchi exclaimed, looking at the Digimon. "Those are so cool! Do they have names?"   
"Uh, yeah. This is Agumon, Gatomon, Biyomon, Gabumon, Patamon, Palmon, Tentomon, and Gomamon," Tai introduced.   
"Guys, this is Marni, Marisa, Zack, and Yuuchi."  
"Sora?" Biyomon asked, tapping her on the arm.   
"Yes?" Sora asked.  
"Are they the new Digi-Destined?"   
"Yes, they are. How did you know about them?" Sora asked.  
"Gennai explained everything to us," Tentomon explained, hovering in the air.  
"How come File Island has changed so much?" Mimi asked as she looked around.  
  
  
"Well, it's relatively simple, Mimi," Izzy explained as he started typing on his laptop. "Time runs differently in the Digiworld than in our world. Remember that a minute in our world is equivalent to one day in the Digiworld. Let's see. We left the Digiworld precisely three days ago, which is also equivalent to seventy-two hours. Multiplied by sixty  
minutes equals forty-three hundred minutes, which is equivalent to four thousand and three hundred days in the Digiworld. Divide that by 365.25 days in a year...."  
"Quit it with all the math and get to the point, Izzy!" Tai yelled out of frustration.   
"Okay, okay," Izzy exclaimed, a bit annoyed. "Approximately eleven years, nine months, and twenty-eight days have passed in the Digiworld." There were a few moments of silence that followed. "In that period of time," Izzy continued, "natural changes have occurred in the Digital environment."   
"The environment's not the only thing that has changed here, Izzy," Tentomon remarked. "What else is there?" Izzy asked.   
"Ever since you all left, several new kinds of Digimon have appeared all over the  
Digiworld," Tentomon explained. The kids gasped when they heard this news. "Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed. "I can't wait to observe these new Digimon!"  
Suddenly, some rustling was heard from a nearby bush. Everyone froze, not knowing whether it was a good or bad Digimon. A few moments later, a head popped out of  
the bushes. It was lime-green in color with brown eyes and looked like Agumon without a body, with a curved crest on top of its head. The Digimon looked around at the kids. When it saw Marisa, it gasped and bounced up and down in excitement. As it bounced its way toward Marisa, it exclaimed in a high squeaky voice,   
"I can't believe it! I finally found you!" Marisa eyed the Digimon nervously as it bounced around her.   
"What's wrong, Marisa? Aren't you happy to see me?" it asked.   
"How did you know my name?" Marisa asked, bending down on her knees to take a better look at the excited bouncing head.   
"Because I'm your Digimon, silly," the creature answered. "I'm Chamamon. Nice to finally meet you, Marisa." Marisa giggled.   
"Nice to meet you too, Chamamon," she replied with a smile. with the appearance made by Chamamon, no one noticed the pale pink Digimon slithering out of the bushes. It was about the size of a small python with bright blue eyes. It slithered its way toward Marni, but she didn't notice since she was watching Chamamon. Marisa looked up at her sister and froze. The pink snake was on Marni's foot.   
"Don't move," she whispered with slight panic in her voice.   
"Why? What's wrong?" Marni asked. She followed her sister's gaze down to her feet and saw the pink snake, which had already started to wrap itself around Marni's leg.   
"Whoa!" she murmured. "Is that a Digimon?" The snake looked up at her and replied in a  
slithery voice,   
"What do you think, Marni?"  
"Are you my Digimon?" Marni asked as the snake made its way up her body and wrapped itself around her shoulders.  
"Yesss, I am. The name isss Venomon. Pleasssure to meet you." It flickered its dark purple forked tongue.  
"EWW!" Mimi exclaimed. "That has to be the ugliest Digimon I've ever seen!"   
"Mimi!" Palmon exclaimed.  
"Well, it's true," Mimi admitted. Venomon stared coldly at Mimi and flickered its tongue again. This gave Mimi the shivers.   
"Don't be so judgmental, Mimi," Marni retorted as she stroked Venomon's chin.  
Suddenly, a small patch of tall grass started to shake violently. Two Digimon, never seen before by the original Digi-Destined, rolled out of the grass and stopped at Zack and Yuuchi's feet...  
One of the two was a navy blue head, which pretty much looked like a cat, besides the fact that it had dark green eyes.   
"Hi, Zack. I'm your new friend, Cubmon," the little Digimon greeted. Zack blinked a few times at this, and then arched an eyebrow. He was still having a hard time digesting the previous information. Yuuchi bent down to investigate the little peach thing sitting at his feet.   
"And let me get this straight. You're my Digimon, right?" Yuuchi asked with a curious  
glance.   
"Yep, that's right. My name is Manimon, and you're Yuuchi," it said. Yuuchi nodded his head in return.   
"So this world we're in right now is the Digiworld, these things are the things you were telling us about, and this particular thing right here is mine?" Zack asked as he tried to figure out the mess in his mind.  
"Yeah, basically," Tai admitted. Yuuchi looked surprised.  
"That's the most I've heard him talk since I met him! I think he's getting better at this,"  
Yuuchi remarked with a smile. Zack shot him a glare in return.  
"So, what now?" Marni asked.   
"Well, you were already given your digivices," Izzy explained.   
"That's what these white things are?" Marisa asked, looking at the digivice in her hand. "Precisely," Izzy replied.   
"Now, you just need your tags and crests." Izzy opened up his backpack and was about to reach in when four beams of light shot out. One was red, another was dark green, the third was dark blue, and the last was light green. The four beams of light headed straight toward Marni, Marisa, Zack and Yuuchi. The light made an impact on their chests, but they didn't feel any pain, which was what they were expecting.   
"What the...?" Yuuchi exclaimed. For once, he was at a loss for words. He was wearing a necklace, from which hung a tag with a lime-green crest. Yuuchi looked up and noticed that the others had tags and crests just like him, only Marni's was bright red, Marisa's was forest green, and Zack's was cerulean blue. "Astonishing!" Izzy exclaimed. "The tags and crests went immediately to their owners."  
"Do these crests have any special meaning?" Zack asked as he examined his tag.  
"Yes they do," Izzy replied, "but I'm afraid that's something you'll have to discover on your own."   
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuuchi retorted a bit rudely. Before anyone could  
reply, Marni asked,   
"What's that light?"  
"What do you mean?" Marisa asked.   
"That light heading towards us," Marni explained, pointing at a glowing orange light, which was coming closer to them. As everyone looked at the light, Sora suggested, "Maybe it's Meramon?" Tai took out his telescope and looked at the glowing light.   
"It's definitely not Meramon," he remarked.  
"Then, who is it, Tai?" Kari asked.   
"I don't know, Kari," Tai replied.   
"I never seen this Digimon before. Must be one of those new ones Tentomon was talking about."  
"Let me sssee, Tai," Venomon requested, who was still on Marni's shoulders. Tai approached Marni and held up the telescope so Venomon could look through it. It  
gasped when it recognized the walking blob of lava heading towards them.   
"Do you recognize it, Venomon?" Marni asked as Tai moved the telescope away.   
"Afraid ssso," Venomon muttered.   
"What was it?" Chamamon asked.   
"It'sss Lavamon," Venomon replied.   
"Oh, no!" Chamamon exclaimed.   
"You heard of him?" Marisa asked.  
"Uh-huh. Lavamon's bad news. He's a fiery Digimon who'll destroy anything in his way."   
"I remember Lavamon," Cubmon muttered angrily. "A few days ago, he destroyed half of my village. Lavamon's very dangerous."   
"Then, why are we still standing here?" Zack asked as he ran to the bushes, with Cubmon  
in his arms.   
"Hey, that's actually a good idea!" Tai remarked. "We can surprise-attack Lavamon from those bushes! Come on, everyone."  
All the other kids and their Digimon ran into the bushes and waited. As Lavamon came closer, Tai told the new kids,   
"When Lavamon is right outside these bushes, attack."   
"Attack? with what?" Zack asked, a bit confused.  
"He probably means attack with our Digimon, Zack," Marisa whispered. Lavamon stopped on the beach right next to the kids' hiding place. They were already starting to sweat from the heat of Lavamon's body. He had a hand-held walkie-talkie in his hand. He spoke into it,  
"Still can't find those kids, boss. Are you sure this is where they landed?" There was an angry garbled response.  
"Sorry, boss, it is my fault. Don't worry. When I find those Digi-Destined, they're toast."   
"That's what you think!" Cubmon yelled as he, Manimon, Chamamon, and Venomon jumped out of the bushes. Lavamon looked down at the Digimon and laughed.   
"You really think you can take me on, little ones?" he retorted. The four Digimon attacked with their Bubble Blow simultaneously. All four Bubble Blows struck Lavamon in the eyes. "Ahh!" he screamed in pain as he covered his eyes. The kids quickly emerged from the bushes with their Digimon.   
"We'll take it from here," Tai told Marni, Marisa, Zack, and Yuuchi.   
"All right, guys. "Let's show this hot head what we're made of!" Tai shouted.   
"Pepper Breath!" Agumon shouted, releasing a ball of fire at Lavamon. The attack hit the Digimon also.   
"Tai, that thing's a fire Digimon. Agumon can't hurt him!" Izzy reminded him.  
"Spiral Twister!" Biyomon shouted as a green spiral came out of her beak. This attack also hit Lavamon, but again, he didn't seem fazed.  
"Blue Blaster!" Gabumon shouted.   
"Poison Ivy!" Palmon shouted, only to get her vines set on fire.   
"Flames of Rage!" Lavamon shouted, sending fire everywhere.   
"It doesn't look good for our side," Yuuchi informed the others from the bushes.   
"I think you're right," Marni admitted.   
"Marching Fishes!" Gomamon shouted.  
"Super Shocker!" Tentomon shouted.   
"Boom Bubble!" Patamon shouted.   
"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon shouted. The four Digimon all attacked at once, only to be knocked down by Lavamon's Flames of Rage.   
"Come on, you guys! We have to help them!" Chamamon shouted.   
"Right!" Cubmon agreed. Suddenly, the four digivices that belonged to the kids started to react.  
"Venomon digivolve to...Sssnakemon."  
"Cubmon digivolve to...Cheetamon."   
"Chamamon digivolve to...Chamelamon."  
"Manimon digivolve to...Nanmimon."  
"Let's go take care of that big bully once and for all!" Cheetamon yelled. The four kids just stared in astonishment.   
"Right!" they all chorused. The four Digimon jumped out of the bushes.   
"Lightning Slash!" Cheetamon shouted. His long claws sprung out and electricity started to build up around them. He slashed the air, sending electricity in the shape of  
claw marks straight toward Lavamon.   
"Psybeam!" Nanmimon shouted. The green triangle on his forehead started to glow and a beam of light shot out. "Poissson Sssting!" Snakemon shouted. He opened his  
mouth and a dozen glowing white needles flew out.  
"Fire Spin!" Chamelamon shouted. She opened her mouth and a spiral of fire flew out.   
The four attacks combined hit Lavamon in the stomach. He groaned and bent over in pain. "All right!" Cheetamon, Nanmimon, Snakemon and Chamelamon cheered.  
"Way to go," Marni exclaimed as she, Marisa, Zack, and Yuuchi came out from behind the bushes.   
"Don't celebrate yet!" Marisa gasped as Lavamon stood up. The four kids quickly joined the other Digi-Destined.   
"Any ideas, cuz we sure could use a good one right now!" Zack exclaimed.   
"We'll attack together!" Cheetamon suggested. "I don't know," Zack muttered uncertainly. "Come on! We can do it," Chamelamon encouraged the other Digimon.  
"There's twelve of us and only one of him. We gotta try, at least!"   
"What are you puny little Digimon gonna try now?" Lavamon asked sarcastically.   
"Pepper Breath!"   
"Spiral Twister!"  
"Blue Blaster!"   
"Marching Fishes!"  
"Super Shocker!"   
"Boom Bubble!"   
"Lightning Paw!"  
"Lightning Slash!"   
"Psybeam!"   
"Poissson Sssting!"  
"Fire Spin!"  
All eleven attacks struck Lavamon simultaneously. Upon impact, Lavamon screamed in pain and disintegrated.  
"Yeah!" all of the kids cheered simultaneously. His walkie-talkie dropped in the sand. "LAVAMON!" a deep voice squeaked through the walkie-talkie. Tai approached the walkie-talkie and was about to pick it up when it disintegrated...  
Unbeknownst to the Digi-Destined, they were being watched.   
"They destroyed Lavamon, and all the Digimon were Rookies!" replied the same deep voice, which was coming from a throne veiled in dark shadows, covering he image of the creature.   
"Doesn't matter, though. Lavamon was weak, and he's not the only ace I have up my sleeve. Isn't that right?" Several pairs of glowing red eyes appeared around the throne as the mysterious creature on the throne laughed evilly... TO BE CONTINUED  



	2. From the Depths 2

Disclaimer: We (dreamcatcher and I) Don't own Digimon some mean company does, so don't sue us 'cause you won't get much  
  
Part Two: The Arrival of Cobramon  
  
"Wow! That was totally awesome!" Yuuchi exclaimed.  
"Umm...it's not Manimon anymore, right?" Nanmimon was still peach in color, except he now looked similar to a small pony. He had three matching spikes on his head, a small green triangle on his forehead, and bright lavender eyes. He shook his head no.   
"I'm Nanmimon now, Yuuchi." Marisa looked down at the large lizard staring back at her with bright blue eyes. Her body was purple with bright pink tiger stripes on her back, and she still had the curved crest on the back of her head.   
"I guess you're not Chamamon, are you?"  
"Uh-uh. Now I'm Chamelamon," she told Marisa.   
"What happened to them?" Marisa asked the other kids.   
"They all digivolved," Matt answered.   
"What's that?" Yuuchi asked.   
"Digivolving is when your Digimon advances to the next level and become more powerful than before," Izzy explained.  
"That'sss the truth," Snakemon admitted. The large kiwi-green snake with two arms, bright brown eyes, a pale yellow belly, and a dark orange diamond pattern running down his back looked up at Marni. "  
I usssed to be Venomon, but I digivolved to Sssnakemon."   
"And I digivolved from Cubmon to Cheetamon, Zack," Cheetamon exclaimed. Zack arched an eyebrow as he eyed this strange creature standing before him. He looked very similar to a cheetah back in Zack's Old World, except he had a star on his stomach, and two gold bracelets on his front paws. He also had a smaller gold bracelet on his tail. Cheetamon still had the same dark green eyes he had when he was Cubmon.   
"So, what do we do next?" Yuuchi asked as he looked at the others, who were watching the whole process.  
"Well, we find what's causing all this mess and stop it," Tai explained.   
"And how are we supposed to find it?" Marni asked.   
"Well, that's usually not the problem. They normally find us first," Joe muttered.   
"So, let me get this straight," Zack said.  
"These things can 'digivolve' into bigger things? So, are there anymore forms?" he asked. "Precisely. In fact, there are a total of five different levels. There's an In-Training level, a Rookie level, a Champion level, an Ultimate level, and even a Mega level. Currently, all of our Digimon are in their Rookie form," Izzy explained.   
"So, in other words, they'll be able to digivolve again?" Marisa asked.   
"That is correct," Izzy confirmed. Marni was about to say something when she noticed that Izzy had opened up his laptop and was typing furiously.   
"What are you doing, Izzy?" she asked. "I'm emailing a friend of mine, who lives here in the Digiworld," Izzy explained.   
"His name is Gennai, and he may have some useful information on this new enemy that's threatening this world." After he finished typing, Izzy sat back from the screen and groaned.   
"What's the matter, Izzy?" Sora asked.   
"For some reason, Gennai's not responding," Izzy explained.   
"Just give it a couple of whacks to boot it up!" Tai suggested. He would have whacked Izzy's laptop himself if Joe and Zack didn't hold him back.   
"That could be the problem," Marisa suggested, pointing at a thick fog that had rolled in from the ocean and had already blanketed the beach.   
"That has to be it," Izzy muttered. "The fog must be messing with my infrared Internet connection." He closed his laptop and stood up.   
"Let's try moving further inland," he suggested to the others as he headed into the forest, followed by Tentomon.   
"Hey, Izzy! Wait up!" Tai exclaimed as he and the other kids tried their best to keep up with Izzy and Tentomon...   
By the time the other kids caught up with Izzy, he was once again typing on his laptop, with Tentomon at his side.   
"Any luck now, Izzy?" Tentomon asked.  
"Not yet," Izzy admitted.  
"You might as well give it up, Izzy," Matt suggested.   
"The whole island's covered in this fog." Izzy looked up from his laptop and realized that Matt was right about the fog. Izzy was about ready to give up when his eyes spotted Infinity Mountain. The fog had circled the base of the mountain, but it was crystal clear higher up.   
"I'm afraid you're wrong, Matt," Izzy remarked, pointing at Infinity Mountain.   
"If I climb up Infinity Mountain, I'll get much better reception and be able to contact Gennai!" Izzy started to run toward the mountain, with Tentomon shouting,   
"Wait for me, Izzy!"  
"Hold on a minute," Joe yelled. Izzy and Tentomon stopped and turned around.   
"What is it, Joe?' Izzy asked.  
"You shouldn't go up by yourself. It's too dangerous."  
"Joe, we've been up Infinity Mountain before, so I know about the potential danger," Izzy explained. "I'll only be up there for approximately an hour, maybe two."   
"You might have been up there before, Izzzzzzy," Snakemon remarked, "but that wasss over eleven yearsss ago. There are new dangersss in thisss world now that you and your friendsss have probably never come acrossssss before." Izzy thought about what Snakemon said.   
"Well, that's true," he muttered as he looked at Infinity Mountain.   
"Look, why don't Snakemon and I go with you," Marni suggested.   
"I think two Digimon could handle anything up there."   
"I'm not sure about you going, Marni," Izzy muttered out loud.   
"Your Digimon hasn't had much experience fighting other Digimon."   
"Okay, that's true," Marni admitted, "but if we do run into something on that mountain, Snakemon will gain more fighting experience, right?" Izzy was quiet for a few moments, carefully thinking it over.   
"Well, I suppose there'll be no harm with you coming along with us," he finally replied. "All right!" Marni exclaimed.   
"Let's get going! Come on, Snakemon." As she and her Digimon headed toward the base of Infinity Mountain, Sora asked Izzy,   
"Are you sure about this, Izzy? What if you do come across an evil Digimon up there?"   
"No need to worry about it, guys," Izzy assured his friends.   
"I have Tentomon with me, and I'm confident he can handle any Digimon we may encounter on the way up by himself, if it ever comes to that."   
"Come on, Izzy! I haven't got all day!" Marni yelled impatiently.   
"Coming!" Izzy yelled as he ran to her, followed by Tentomon.   
"Be careful, Marni," Marisa shouted to her sister.   
"Don't worry about it," Marni shouted back. Together, the two kids and their Digimon eventually disappeared into the thick fog bank...   
"Geez!" Marni exclaimed as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with her hand. "From down there, Infinity Mountain looked a lot smaller. I can see how it got its name!" She looked up at Izzy and Tentomon, who didn't appear to be as exhausted as she was. Marni took in a deep breath and asked,   
"Do we have to go all the way to the top?"  
"Not necessarily," Izzy explained. "We just need to locate a break in this fog. I need a fog-free area in order to contact Gennai."   
Marni sighed deeply. "Okay," she replied as she stepped forward. Marni tripped over something and fell to the ground.   
"Hey, watch where you're going!" Snakemon complained.  
"Sorry about that," Marni apologized as she stood up.   
"I didn't see you, Snakemon, with all this fog." The fog was still pretty thick, so the kids and their Digimon were still having a hard time seeing where they were going. As Marni helped Snakemon up, Izzy was looking at the path ahead.   
"It appears that the fog is starting to lift up along this path, guys," he informed Marni, Snakemon, and Tentomon.   
"We just have to go a little further." Marni looked up at the path and noticed that Izzy was right. The path was becoming much clearer. Izzy continued hiking up the steep path, with Tentomon hovering next to him, and Marni and Snakemon lagging behind.   
  
By the time the two caught up with Izzy and Tentomon, they were on an extremely sharp turn on the path. There was a massive gray boulder nearby, and the bend in the path formed a long ledge overlooking File Island.   
"This is perfect," Izzy commented as he plopped down on the ground. He opened up his laptop and started to type furiously. Tentomon was watching over his shoulder as he usually did, and Marni and Snakemon were looking around the place.   
  
Marni was obviously becoming bored with watching Izzy on his computer. She headed over to the nearby boulder, climbed on top of it, and stretched out on her back. Snakemon soon joined her by slithering his way up. He followed Marni's gaze up to the sky.   
"What are you looking at, Marni?" Snakemon asked as he flickered his tongue.   
  
"The clouds," Marni replied, still looking up at the sky.   
"It's not like I have anything better to do, with Izzy typing away on his computer. Boring!" Snakemon lied down on his back and looked up at the clouds. "  
Why do humansss do thisss?" he asked.  
"It's something us kids like to do when we're bored," Marni explained. "  
We look up at the clouds and see if we can pick out any shapes or forms. Like, look at that cloud over there." She pointed at a large round one with two smaller ones on top. "That cloud looks like the head of a teddy bear."   
"No, it doesssn't," Snakemon replied. "Do you even know what a teddy bear is?" Marni asked.  
"No," Snakemon admitted, " but that one looksss like Monzzzaemon."   
"Monzaemon?" Marni repeated. "Is he a Digimon?"   
"Of courssse," Snakemon replied.   
"He runsss a place called Toy Town." As Marni and Snakemon talked some more, Izzy had finally succeeded with making contact with Gennai.   
"Izzy, my boy! It's good to see you again," the image of Gennai on Izzy's computer screen greeted.   
"Likewise, Gennai," Izzy replied.   
"Do you have any information on the new evil that's threatening the Digital World?"   
Gennai was quiet for a moment.   
"Sorry, Izzy, but not much is known about this new evil Digimon. All I know is that his name is...Armaggedamon."   
"Armaggedamon," Izzy repeated.  
"He's extremely dangerous, more dangerous than all the evil Digimon you and your friends have defeated before."   
"So that's why we needed four more Digi-Destined," Izzy theorized.   
"Exactly," Gennai confirmed.   
"You and your friends must be very careful with whom you trust here in the Digiworld. Any evil Digimon you encounter has a connection with Armaggedamon, so it's important that...Uh-oh."   
" 'Uh-oh?' Oh, I hate it when he says that," Tentomon exclaimed.   
"Where are you now, Izzy?" Gennai asked.  
"Up on Infinity Mountain. Why?" Izzy asked.   
"You must be careful up there. A new evil Digimon lives up there," Gennai explained.  
"It is called a Rhynomon. It looks like a Monochromon, only its body is covered with a thick gray hide. When it's lying perfectly still, it can be mistaken for a boulder."   
'Did you say 'boulder?' " Izzy asked.   
"Yes, I did," Gennai replied. Izzy was obviously nervous. He remembered passing a massive boulder on the way up, and now Marni and Snakemon were lying on top of it!   
"I'll have to talk to you later, Gennai," Izzy stuttered as he closed his computer. He turned around and ran as fast as he could, followed by Tentomon...   
"MARNI!" The girl looked up and saw Izzy and Tentomon racing toward her. She and Snakemon stood up on the boulder.   
"What's up, Izzy?" Marni asked.  
"You got to get off that thing, now!" Izzy yelled. Just then, a pair of glowing red eyes could be seen on the boulder, but Marni and Snakemon couldn't see them.   
"Why?" Marni asked. Suddenly, the rock underneath her started to shake. Startled by the sudden movements, she screamed a bit. Marni and Snakemon quickly slid off of the Digimon's back as Rhynomon stood up. Marni quickly ran over to where Izzy was.   
"Let's do it, Tentomon!" Izzy shouted, looking at his friend. The little bug Digimon nodded and Izzy's digivice was activated.   
"Tentomon digivolve to...Kabuterimon."   
"Electro Shocker!" Kabuterimon shouted, releasing a ball of electricity at the Digimon. Rhynomon was hit, but didn't seem fazed too much.   
"I don't think we have much of a chance here. That Digimon's a rock Digimon, so Kabuterimon can't hurt him!" Izzy explained to Marni.   
"Bone Crusher!" Rhynomon shouted, charging at Kabuterimon and pinning it against the wall. It didn't look like Kabuterimon would last much longer in battle.   
"What are we going to do, Snakemon?" Marni asked her Digimon.   
"I don't know, Marni," Snakemon replied, "but Kabuterimon needsss my help." The Digimon slithered closer to Rhynomon, who still had Kabuterimon pinned against the rock wall of Infinity Mountain.   
"Poissson Sssting!" Snakemon shouted. The needles didn't even penetrate Rhynomon's thick hide.  
"My Poissson Sssting isssn't ssstrong enough," Snakemon told Marni.   
"I need to digivolve to the nexxxt level."   
"But, how can you do that? "Marni asked.   
"I need your help, Marni. Izzzzzzy made it possssssible for Tentomon to digivolve into Kabuterimon. You can make it possssssible for me to digivolve." As Marni took all of this in, her digivice started to react. Snakemon was suddenly bathed in a white light. "Sssnakemon digivolve to...Cobramon."   
Marni was surprised beyond belief. Where Snakemon once stood was a huge bright green cobra, with a canary yellow belly, large muscular arms, and a decorative design in the interior of his hood.   
"Is that Snakemon?" she asked Izzy, who had opened up his laptop in order to identify the Digimon.   
"Not anymore, Marni," he explained.   
"Snakemon digivolved into his Champion form: Cobramon. His Cobra Fang attack is like having a pair of drills attacking you simultaneously. Good thing he's on our side."   
Marni and Izzy watched in astonishment as Cobramon wrapped his body around Rhynomon and pulled him away from Kabuterimon.   
"Are you all right, Kabuterimon?" Izzy shouted.   
"Don't worry about me, Izzy," Kabuterimon replied as he stood up. Rhynomon managed to break out of Cobramon's grasp and was ready to attack again.   
"Let's attack together, Kabuterimon." Cobramon yelled.  
"Right. Electro Shocker!" Kabuterimon shouted.   
"Cobra Fang!" Cobramon shouted. He opened his mouth and two large ivory fangs with crimson red tips flew out. The two attacks combined nailed Rhynomon, and after letting out a painful howl, he disintegrated.  
"All right!" Marni cheered. Izzy noticed that a black walkie-talkie, just like the one Lavamon had, dropped to the ground and disintegrated shortly afterwards.   
"Gennai was right," he muttered thoughtfully to himself. "We must be cautious as to who we trust here in the Digital World."   
"That was totally awesome, Cobramon!" Marni congratulated her Digimon as she ran toward Cobramon. She suddenly stopped when Cobramon de-digivolved back to Snakemon.  
"Snakemon! What happened?" she asked as she picked up Snakemon.   
"Snakemon just returned to his Rookie form," Izzy explained. Marni looked up at Kabuterimon, who was standing right next to Izzy.   
"Well, how come Kabuterimon hasn't returned back to Tentomon?" she asked.   
"Well, Tentomon has digivolved much more often than Snakemon has," Izzy explained. "Because of that, he's able to stay in his Champion form much longer. Once Snakemon get accustomed to digivolving, he'll be able to hold his Champion form of Cobramon much longer than he did."   
"Okay," Marni replied slowly. She looked down at Snakemon.   
"How are you feeling?"   
"Jussst ssswell," Snakemon muttered.   
"That's good," Marni replied with a smile. She turned toward Izzy.   
"Since you're done talking to that 'Gennai' guy, can we get off this mountain now?" Marni asked...   
"What could be taking them so long?" Marisa asked Tai, who was looking at Infinity Mountain with his mini-telescope. The thick fog had finally cleared up, so Tai could clearly see the mountain through his telescope.   
"I don't know," Tai replied.  
"Since Izzy's on his computer, they'll probably be up there for a few hours," Matt retorted.   
"Hey, what's that?" Yuuchi asked, pointing at a blue speck that flew off of the mountain. Tai focused his telescope on the blue speck and gasped.   
"It's Kabuterimon!" he exclaimed.   
"Is that good?" Zack asked nervously.  
"Izzy, Marni, and Snakemon are with him," Tai continued. As the blue spot came closer, Marisa, Yuuchi and Zack could see that Izzy, Marni and Snakemon were indeed riding on the massive blue beetle that Tai called "Kabuterimon." Everyone backed up a bit as Kabuterimon landed on the ground and his riders slid off.   
"Umm, Izzy? Where's Tentomon?" Yuuchi asked.   
"This is Tentomon," Izzy explained. "He digivolved to Kabuterimon." Just then, Kabuterimon de-digivolved back to Tentomon.  
"Whoa! That was awesome!" Yuuchi exclaimed.  
"Marisa, you should have been up there!" Marni exclaimed to her sister.   
"There was this huge Digimon called a Rhynomon, Snakemon digivolved to Cobramon, and he and Kabuterimon defeated Rhynomon. It was so cool!" She turned to Izzy.   
"Do you still have that picture of Cobramon on your computer, Izzy? I want Marisa to see it!"   
"Sure, no problem," Izzy agreed. He opened up his computer and brought the image of Cobramon back on the screen.   
"Wow! That's totally wicked!" Tai commented as everyone crowded around Izzy and Marni to take a look at the image of Cobramon.   
"Believe me, it's much more wicked seeing Cobramon up close," Marni added. She noticed that Snakemon was looking the other way.   
"Is there something wrong, Snakemon?" she asked.   
"I think you like Cobramon better than me," Snakemon retorted.   
"Aww, come on, Snakemon," Marni pleaded.   
"I'm just seeing all this stuff for the first time ever. Of course, I'm gonna be excited by every single thing I see! Come on, are we gonna be friends or what?" Snakemon looked up at Marni.   
"I guessssss we could be friendsss, Marni," he replied.  
"Okay, a handshake makes it official," Marni remarked as she and Snakemon shook hands...TO BE CONTINUED   
  



	3. From The Depths 3

Disclaimer: We (dreamcatcher and I) Don't own Digimon some mean company does, so don't sue us 'cause you won't get much   
  
FROM THE DEPTHS   
Part Three: Panthramon's Razor Claw  
  
A beep went off on Izzy's laptop computer.  
"Hey, it's Gennai!" Izzy exclaimed as the familiar animated figure walked across his computer screen. "  
Greetings, everyone," the figure greeted.   
"Ahh, I see you found the four children. Excellent work!" The four kids looked at each other with puzzled expressions on their faces.   
"That must be that Gennai guy that Izzy was talking to earlier," Marni whispered to Marisa, Yuuchi, and Zack.   
"That's correct, Marni," Gennai replied. Marni jumped a bit when she heard Gennai say her name.   
"Man, this is freaky!" she exclaimed.   
"This is very urgent. You must come to the mainland right away. I'm afraid that's where the real trouble lies," Gennai explained.   
"Oh, shoot! I'm out of quarters! Tell them about the new threat, won't you, Izzy?"   
"Of course," Izzy replied as Gennai's image disappeared from the screen. He closed his laptop and looked up at the other kids.   
"So, Izzy, what's going on?" Tai asked.   
"Earlier today, Gennai informed me of a new evil Digimon known as Armaggedamon. He's apparently more powerful than any Digimon we've faced in the past, guys. That's why it was necessary for us to bring four more Digi-Destined along this time." His friends nodded as though they understood everything.   
"Now that everything's settled, we need to figure out a way to get across the ocean to the mainland," Matt muttered out loud as he and T.K. looked out at the seemingly endless stretch of blue water...   
"Maybe we could build a raft?" Yuuchi suggested. Joe groaned as he remembered the last time they tried to do that.   
"Bad idea. The last time we did that, we were almost eaten alive," he grumbled.   
"Aww, come on, Joe. Whamon didn't mean to eat us," Gomamon added.   
"Well, we certainly can't swim there, can we?" Marni asked.   
"Whamon?" Zack asked when he heard the name.   
"Yeah, he's like a huge whale," T.K. admitted.   
"I really don't know what's worse, being stranded in this strange world, or having to deal with my parents," Zack muttered, shaking his head.   
"Why is that?" Sora asked. Zack closed his eyes and shook his head even more.   
"No reason, really. We just don't get along very well. Ever since that one day..." Zack trailed off.   
"Go on," Yuuchi insisted whom was not going to let him off the hook that easily.   
"I didn't want to mention it because I thought it wasn't important. I don't really know who I am. Not too long ago, something happened. I have no idea what happened, but my past just...slipped away," he explained, staring at the ground the whole time.   
"A case of amnesia. How interesting," Izzy muttered to himself loud enough for Zack to overhear.   
"I know what it's called. And it's not interesting. With you being the nerd, of course you would think that. How would you like it if you forgot everything you knew?" Zack snapped, walking closer to where Izzy was.   
"Hey!" Izzy exclaimed as Zack forcefully pushed him to the ground. Before the fight could continue, Tai stepped in between them.   
"Stop this now," Tai ordered, breaking up the fight.   
"He started it," Izzy grumbled as he stood up with Tentomon's help.   
"What we need now is a plan on how to get to Gennai, so we can help," Tai explained to Izzy...   
Zack felt he needed some time alone in order to cool off. He snuck to a rock near the shore a little bit farther from the rest of them. He sat down and looked out at the sun setting over the ocean.   
"I knew I should have stayed home, and I knew I should have kept my big mouth shut," Zack muttered to himself.  
"You're not very good with others, are you, Zack?" a familiar voice asked. He looked around to see Cheetamon sitting right next to him.   
"Not really," Zack admitted.   
"I guess it doesn't help that my parents wouldn't let me interact with anyone," he muttered, not really looking up at Cheetamon.  
"Well, cheer up, Zack. You're not alone anymore, cuz you got me now. And we'll be friends forever, no matter what happens," Cheetamon reminded him cheerfully.   
"Besides, I'm a lot like you in a way. I know what you're going through." Zack looked up at his Digimon and smiled a bit.   
"Thanks, Cheetamon. Let's go see what the others have come up with," he suggested as he and Cheetamon stood up. Just as he climbed off the rock, a massive spray of water startled him and he fell to the ground.   
"Sorry about that, kid," Zack heard a deep voice apologize. He looked up at a huge whale Digimon, which had swum up to shore.   
"Look, it's Whamon!" Mimi exclaimed as she and the others joined Zack and Cheetamon. "Hello, kids. I heard you wanted to see Gennai," the massive Digimon bellowed.   
"Yeah," Tai exclaimed.   
"Could you give us a ride, Whamon?"   
"No problem, Tai. Everyone get in," Whamon announced as he opened his mouth.   
"You got to be kidding!" Zack exclaimed as Cheetamon helped him to his feet. "Going inside a whale? Are you crazy?"   
"You know, Zack has a good point there," Marisa agreed.  
"There's no need to worry," Matt explained.   
"Whamon wouldn't hurt anyone, unless it was an evil Digimon."   
"Well, didn't Joe say that you guys almost got eaten by Whamon?" Marni asked suspiciously.   
"That wasn't his fault," Agumon explained. "A black gear was controlling him at the time." "Come on, everyone! We're wasting time just standing here!" Tai exclaimed.   
"All aboard, everyone," Whamon announced. The eight original Digi-Destined and their Digimon willingly stepped inside Whamon's mouth. Tai and Agumon turned around and looked at Marni, Marisa, Zack and Yuuchi, who were still standing on the shore with their Digimon.   
"Come on, you guys!" Tai retorted. "For the last time, Whamon's not gonna hurt you!" "Let's go," Marni told the others. "The others trust Whamon, so we should too, right?" Marisa and Yuuchi slowly nodded their heads in agreement.   
"Okay, so let's go. Everyone's waiting for us." Marni and Snakemon headed inside Whamon's mouth and disappeared.  
"Well, if my sister's going, then so am I," Marisa added a bit nervously as she and Chamelamon headed inside Whamon.   
"Hey, wait up!" Yuuchi exclaimed as he and Nanmimon ran after them. Before he went inside, Yuuchi turned around and asked,   
"Are you coming, Zack?" Zack hesitated for a moment.   
"Doesn't look like I have much of a choice," he muttered out loud. Yuuchi smiled at Zack, then he turned around. As he continued going inside, Yuuchi sniffed the air in Whamon's mouth and made a face. He yelled,   
"No offense, Whamon, but have you ever heard of Binoca?" Zack tried to muffle his snickers as he and Cheetamon followed Yuuchi and Nanmimon...   
"This has got to be one of the most stupidest things I've ever done," Zack muttered as he looked around.   
"I think it's pretty cool," Yuuchi admitted.   
"You would," Zack muttered to himself. Most of the other kids were doing their own thing. Zack spotted Izzy typing away on his computer once again. Zack felt bad for the way he acted earlier, since it wasn't really Izzy's fault. Zack headed over to where Izzy was, with Cheetamon silently following behind.   
"Listen, Izzy, I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I'm just not used to being around kids, and at times I can be a little too serious," Zack apologized. Izzy looked up and smiled. "It's okay. I don't really mind much," he replied. Zack looked at the computer.   
"What are you doing?" he asked.   
"Nothing, really. Just seeing what's been going on in the Digiworld," Izzy explained. Zack felt a tug on his pants and looked down at Cheetamon.   
"Zack, when's lunch? I'm starving," the cat Digimon asked. Yuuchi looked up at this. "Good question. Hey, what do these things eat anyway?" he asked.   
"Anything and everything," Joe muttered under his breath.   
"You know, I'm a little hungry, too, Marni," Snakemon told her.  
"No kidding. You probably worked up an appetite after fighting that Rhynomon and that digivolving thing you did," Marni admitted as she got up and started to dig through her pockets.   
"I think I have something in here...Ah-ha!" She pulled out a crumpled plastic bag from her pocket.   
"What isss that?" Snakemon asked as Marni opened up the bag. "  
Peanuts!" Marni pulled out a handful of the roasted nuts and handed them to Snakemon. "Anyone else want some?" she asked as she held up the bag. Suddenly, all of the other Digimon had crowded around her.   
"Uh, should I give them all some?" Marni asked uncertainly.   
"Go ahead, Marni," Matt insisted. "The Digimon need to keep up their strength so they'll be able to fight and digivolve."   
"All righty, then," Marni replied as she started to pass out the peanuts to all of the Digimon. Gatomon walked back to where Kari was sitting with her paws full of peanuts. "Here, Kari, have some, " she offered, holding out her paws.   
"Thanks, Gatomon," Kari replied as she took some peanuts from Gatomon's paws.   
"How much further is it?" Marisa asked Tai, who was sitting next to Kari.   
"Well, we should be at the mainland soon. Right, Whamon?" Tai asked, looking up.  
"I can see land right now, Tai," Whamon replied.   
"We should be there in about fifteen minutes." Everyone cheered when they heard this news.   
"Did you hear that, Zack? We're almost there," Cheetamon told him with his mouth full of peanuts. Zack chuckled a bit. Cheetamon swallowed the peanuts and asked,   
"What's so funny?"   
"You talk funny with your mouth full," Zack explained. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"   
"Umm, what's a mother?" Cheetamon asked curiously. Zack arched an eyebrow as he was thinking,   
"You gotta be kidding me!" Before he could reply, there was a huge crash heard outside. The interior shook violently and everyone got knocked down.   
"What happened, Whamon?" Gomamon asked.   
"Something ran into me underwater. I didn't get a good look at it, though," Whamon admitted.   
"I hope it's not an evil Digimon," Joe whimpered as he sat on his knees.   
"Come on, Joe! Don't be such a 'fraidy cat," Gomamon exclaimed.   
"Watch it!" Gatomon retorted, holding up her fist. Gomamon chuckled nervously.   
"I'm going up to the surface now, guys," Whamon explained.   
"We'll find out what I hit."   
"Okay, let us know when you reach the surface, Whamon, and we'll come on up," Tai added.   
"And how are we gonna do that?" Marni asked a bit sarcastically.  
"We'll go through there," Tai explained as he pointed up at Whamon's blowhole.   
"Are you kidding?" Zack exclaimed.   
"And I thought going inside a whale was stupid! Now you expect us to climb through its blowhole?"   
"Okay, I'm up at the surface now, Tai," Whamon interrupted.   
"Great! Let's go," Tai announced.   
"You first, Mimi," Palmon told her. Marni, Marisa, Zack, and Yuuchi watched in astonishment as Palmon used her Poison Ivy to lift Mimi up to the blowhole...  
"What's taking him so long?" Tai asked no one in particular. Everyone was on top of Whamon, except for Zack, Cheetamon, and Palmon. He and Matt were waiting near his blowhole for Zack and Cheetamon. Matt noticed the blowhole twitching a bit.   
"Here he comes," he told Tai. Just then, Zack emerged from Whamon's blowhole. Palmon's vines were wrapped around his waist, and he was holding Cheetamon in his arms. Tai and Matt helped the two of them onto Whamon's back.   
"Well, it's about time, Zack!" Tai exclaimed.   
"What took you so long?"   
"Well, I was wondering, how is Palmon going to get out of there?" Zack asked, looking back at the blowhole. Palmon's vines could still been seen. Suddenly, Palmon pulled herself out of the hole.   
"Way to go, Palmon," Mimi exclaimed as she hugged her Digimon. Zack walked over to the others, who were looking out at the ocean. It was nighttime now, but the full moon and the stars provided enough light for them to see.   
"So, has anyone seen anything suspicious?" Zack asked.   
"Nothing out here but water, water, some more water, and that land that Whamon mentioned," Yuuchi explained, pointing at a distant stretch of land. Suddenly, Whamon hit something, causing everyone to fall down on his back.   
"Sorry about that," he apologized.   
"What's that?" Marisa asked, pointing at a metallic gray shell that was peeking out of the water a distance away.   
"That could be Shellmon," Sora muttered out loud,   
"but his shell looks different. Looks like it's made out of metal."   
"Hmm, I wonder..." Izzy muttered thoughtfully to himself as he sat down and opened up his laptop.   
"What are you doing this time, Izzy?" Zack asked dully.   
"I'm looking up this Digimon on my computer," he explained.   
"If I'm right about this, then we could be in serious trouble." Izzy's suspicions were confirmed as two images came up on his screen. One was of Shellmon, and the other looked a lot like Shellmon, only it had a metal steel-gray shell complete with two missile launchers, dark green tentacles on its head, and a metallic pink body.   
"Watch out, guys!" Izzy exclaimed. "That's Metal Shellmon!"   
"That's what?" Yuuchi asked.   
"You mean, Shellmon digivolved?" Tai exclaimed as he and Matt joined the others.   
"How is that possible, Izzy?" Matt asked.   
"Well, we never officially destroyed Shellmon, so given the eleven-plus years that have passed here in the Digiworld, Shellmon managed to digivolve to the next level," Izzy explained.  
"Terrific," Zack muttered as Metal Shellmon rose out of the ocean...   
"Come on, you guys," Agumon told the other Digimon.   
"Let's send him back to the bottom of the ocean!" The other Digimon nodded in approval. "Spiral Twister!" Biyomon shouted.   
"Fire Spin!" Chamelamon shouted. The two attacks nailed Metal Shellmon on the head, but it didn't even faze him.   
"Poissson Sssting!" Snakemon shouted.   
"Boom Bubble!" Patamon shouted. Patamon's Boom Bubble sent Snakemon's Poison Sting flying straight at Metal Shellmon. It hit him right on the snout, which made him even angrier.   
"I think you just ticked him off even worse," Marni exclaimed.   
"He wasss ticked off in the firssst placcce," Snakemon retorted.   
"Pepper Breath!" Agumon shouted.  
"Super Shocker!" Tentomon shouted.   
"Psybeam!" Nanmimon shouted. All three attacks nailed Metal Shellmon right on the chin. Gomamon jumped off of Whamon into the water.   
"Go, Marching Fishes!" he shouted. A small army of several differently colored fish flew out of the water and hit Metal Shellmon everywhere. Gomamon's attack just irritated Metal Shellmon even more. Two white missiles with ice blue tips appeared at the missile launchers on his shell and were both fired. One of the missiles exploded within the flying fish, creating a shower of white mist. When the mist cleared away, the kids and their Digimon were shocked to see the now frozen fish dropping from the sky and hitting the water like rocks.   
"That's gotta be his Ice Missile attack," Chamelamon exclaimed.   
"He turned all those poor fish into icicles!"   
"They aren't the only ones that are gonna be turned into icicles," Zack exclaimed. He pointed at the other missile, which was heading straight toward them!   
"Duck!" Joe yelled. Everyone did just that, but it was obvious that the missile would hit Whamon and his passengers.   
"Joe!" Gomamon shouted. Suddenly, Zack noticed that Joe's digivice was reacting. "Gomamon digivolve to...Ikkakumon!" Zack glanced up to see a huge white walrus with a black horn on his forehead knock the missile away just in time. It hit the water, creating a small glacier where it landed.   
"What the...?" he muttered as everyone looked up.   
"All right, Ikkakumon!" Joe cheered. His Digimon nodded and focused his attention on Metal Shellmon.   
"Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikkakumon shouted, shooting two torpedoes from his forehead. Both torpedoes nailed Metal Shellmon. He yowled in pain as he sank into the water. "Yeah!" the kids and Digimon, except for Zack and Cheetamon, cheered. Zack gasped when he saw the crop of dark green tentacles rising out of the water.   
"Don't celebrate yet!" he exclaimed. Joe and the others looked up to see Metal Shellmon ram Ikkakumon.   
"We gotta help him," Marni exclaimed. She looked down at Snakemon.   
"Think you're up for digivolving again?" she asked.   
"I'll try," Snakemon replied. He grunted and groaned, but nothing happened.  
"Hey, what gives?" Marni exclaimed.   
"It doesn't work like that, Marni," Tai explained.  
"Well, someone has to do something," Zack muttered. "Let me try, Zack," Cheetamon suggested.   
"Are you crazy?" Zack exclaimed.  
"I gotta try. Have some faith in me, Zack," Cheetamon told him. Suddenly, Zack felt his digivice reacting. He looked back at Cheetamon, who was bathed in a bright white light. "Cheetamon digivolve to...Panthramon!"   
"We'll take care of this," the black cat growled. Panthramon was the biggest cat Zack had ever seen in his whole life, bigger then him even. It looked like a normal panther with razor sharp claws and a red gem on his forehead, and he still had the gold bracelets on his front paws. Zack watched in awe as Panthramon jumped into the air and landed on top of Metal Shellmon. The monster thrashed about violently, causing Panthramon to lose his grip. He flung himself off and landed on the same ice patch that Metal Shellmon created earlier.   
"Razor Claw!" he shouted, jumping into the air and slashing the protective metal shell with his claws. Panthramon's claws managed to tear a hole in Metal Shellmon's shell, revealing his soft, vulnerable pink body underneath.   
"Now, Ikkakumon!" Panthramon shouted after returning to the frozen platform.   
"Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikkakumon shouted, shooting a couple of torpedoes at Metal Shellmon's exposed body. The huge shell Digimon howled in pain as Ikkakumon's torpedoes exploded inside its shell. As Metal Shellmon disintegrated, a large black walkie-talkie fell into the water...   
"That was incredible!" Zack exclaimed. As he watched Panthramon, he was surprised to see him de-digivolve back to Cheetamon.   
"What...just happened?" Zack asked slowly.   
"He just returned to his Rookie stage, Zack," Marni explained.   
"Same thing happened with Cobramon. According to Izzy, when our Digimon get used to digivolving, they'll be able to stay in their Champion stages longer than before. Is that right, Izzy?"   
"Precisely, Marni," Izzy confirmed.   
"But, how is Cheetamon gonna get back here?" Zack asked.   
"Hop on, Cheetamon. I'll give you a ride," Ikkakumon boomed as he swam by the small glacier. Cheetamon jumped on Ikkakumon's back and held on as he headed back to Whamon. When Ikkakumon reached Whamon, Cheetamon jumped off and landed right in front of Zack.   
"See, Zack? Like I told ya before, you just need to have a little faith in me," he reminded Zack.   
"You did good out there, Cheetamon," Zack admitted, patting his Digimon on the head. "You, too, Gomamon," he heard Joe say. Zack looked up to see Gomamon and Joe. "Aww, Joe, stop it!" Gomamon complained.   
"Well, now that that's over," Tai announced, "let's go back inside and get some shut-eye." Everyone nodded their head slowly, obviously showing signs of drowsiness. As the kids started to head back inside of Whamon, Zack yawned and stretched out his arms. He looked out at the distant stretch of land. The sun had barely peeked over the white sandy beach and the barely visible forest.  
"Zack, are you coming?" he heard Cheetamon ask. Zack looked at his Digimon, smiled, and said,   
"Yeah, I'm coming." He took one final look at the mainland before joining Cheetamon and the others...TO BE CONTINUED   
  



	4. From the Depths 4

Disclaimer: We (dreamcatcher and I) Don't own Digimon some mean company does, so don't sue us 'cause you won't get much  
  
FROM THE DEPTHS   
Part Four: Chamelamon Takes Flight   
  
"Time to wake up, everyone! We're here!" the familiar voice of Whamon announced loudly. One by one, the twelve kids and their Digimon slowly woke up. After letting out a long yawn, Tai managed to get out, "Thanks for the lift, Whamon."  
"No problem, Tai. It was my pleasure," Whamon replied as he opened his mouth. Everyone shielded their eyes from the bright glow of the sun as they walked out of Whamon's mouth onto the beach.   
"Hard to believe we were only asleep for a few minutes," Zack muttered out loud as he stretched out his arms.   
"Actually, you were all asleep for a few hours," Whamon confessed.   
"You all needed some sleep, after everything that happened last night. Gotta go now. See you all later." "Bye, Whamon!" T.K. shouted as he waved to Whamon.  
"Goodbye!" Kari shouted soon after. Everyone waved as Whamon headed into deeper water and dove down...   
"Hey, can we walk by the beach?" Marni asked.   
"Sure, why not?" Tai replied as the group started to walk along the beach.   
"Gee, we've only been here for one day, and already we've gotten into trouble," Yuuchi muttered out loud.  
"That's nothing, Yuuchi," Sora told him.  
"Back when we arrived at the Digiworld for the first time, we'd run into a bad Digimon about every few minutes."   
"Terrific!" Zack muttered under his breath.  
"If this 'Armaggedamon' is as evil as we've been led to believe, then this isn't gonna be a simple walk in the park, guys," Izzy muttered thoughtfully.   
"We've had good luck so far," Marni replied.   
"Well, things never stay normal in this place,  
" Matt muttered as he looked around.   
"Hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing to a brick road.   
"It looks like a brick path," Marisa replied.   
"I think we should follow it. Maybe it will lead to Gennai," Chamelamon added. Marisa looked over the path nervously. The bricks were old and worn, and some of the bricks were missing, revealing the soft earth underneath.  
"Come on! What are we standing around here for?" Marni retorted loudly.   
"Let's get going!" Without a second thought, she sped down the brick path into the woods, with Snakemon desperately trying to catch up with her.   
"Hey, Marni! Wait up!" Tai yelled as he, Kari, Yuuchi, Joe, Sora, Izzy, Zack, Mimi, T.K., Matt, and their Digimon ran after her and Snakemon. Matt stopped running for a minute.   
"What's wrong, Matt?" Gabumon asked.   
"Nothing, Gabumon. I just realized we're missing someone," Matt replied, looking back toward the beach... Marisa didn't follow the other kids right away. She turned her head and looked out at the ocean. "Is something the matter, Marisa?" Chamelamon asked. Marisa looked down at her Digimon, and then looked back out at the ocean.  
"No, I'm okay," she finally answered. "It's just that this is all so overwhelming. I'm in this bizarre world that I need to help save, along with my sister, and now I'm supposed to trust ten total strangers..." Marisa trailed off. She sat down on the warm white sand and let out a deep sigh.   
"Are you okay, Marisa?" She jumped when she heard the voice. Marisa turned her head and saw Matt and Gabumon standing behind her.  
"Yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry!" she stuttered a bit nervously as she stood up.   
"Well, are you coming?" Matt asked a bit rudely. Marisa was taken aback a little by Matt's remark.   
"Yes," she whispered with her head hanging down a bit. Matt shook his head and headed back down the path, with Gabumon following close behind.   
"Come on, Chamelamon," Marisa told her Digimon as they hurried to catch up with the others...   
"I wonder where they could have gone? It's not like Matt to just wander off," Sora thought out loud.  
"Not really, Sora. Remember, he's done it before," Joe reminded her.  
"Well, that's true. I wonder where they could be," Sora muttered. Suddenly, they heard some bushes move nearby. The Digimon stood ready for a fight, but it just turned out to be Marisa, Matt, Chamelamon, and Gabumon.   
"Hey, look who finally decided to show up!" Yuuchi remarked.   
"About time," Zack retorted.   
"Sorry," Marisa apologized. "Can we get going before another Digimon attacks us?" Joe asked nervously. "That's my Joe!" Gomamon admitted, trying to muffle his snickers. Everyone laughed along with Gomamon. Even Joe joined in.   
"Joe's right, though. Let's keep moving," Tai admitted. With that, the kids started to walk again. Marisa was tagging behind the rest of the kids. She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.   
"Why did you stop?" Chamelamon asked.   
"I thought I heard something," Marisa muttered. Suddenly, the bricks beneath her gave way. Marisa and Chamelamon screamed as they fell into a hole. They landed on a wooden foundation about six feet down. "Oww!" she groaned as she slowly sat up.  
"Marisa, are you okay?" Marisa looked up and saw Matt and Gabumon looking over the edge of the hole. "Yeah, I think so," she replied as she slowly stood up.  
"Hold on. I'll try to get you out," Matt yelled.  
"I'll help, too," Gabumon offered. The two of them tried to reach down for her hand, but they fell in as well.  
"Hey! I thought you guys were supposed to be helping us," Chamelamon retorted. Matt didn't say anything as he stood up and wiped the dust off of his shirt. He approached the side of the hole and tried to jump up to reach the edge, but it didn't work. After three or four more tries, Matt groaned out of frustration and turned around.  
"Here, Marisa. I'll give you a boast," Matt suggested as he joined his hands together. As Marisa tried to get out of the hole with Matt's help, Gabumon noticed that the ancient wooden foundation holding them up was starting to split from the excess weight.   
"Uh...Matt, you better hurry up!" his Digimon exclaimed.  
"Why, Gabumon?" Matt asked. Suddenly, the wooden foundation broke from the excess weight. The two kids and their Digimon screamed as they fell down a pitch black, bottomless pit...  
"Did you hear that?" Marni asked. Everyone heard a loud noise, like wood splitting, followed by two screams.  
"Marisa!" she yelled as she ran back down the path, followed quickly by the others. They soon came across a huge, gaping hole in the brick path.  
"Whoa! You can't even see the bottom!" Yuuchi exclaimed as he looked down into the massive pit.   
"How did that happen?" Zack asked.   
"Well, due to the fact that these bricks were old and worn out from weather, the excess weight from the twelve of us walking across caused it to cave in," Izzy explained.  
"Yeah, whatever. The more important thing is that my sister's down there!" Marni yelled at Izzy rudely. T.K. looked down the hole and yelled.   
"Matt! Are you down there?" " 'Matt! Are you down there?' " his echo replied.   
"Marisa! Can you hear me?" Marni yelled into the hole. " 'Marisa! Can you hear me?' " her echo replied. "I hope they're all right," she muttered out loud...   
"Marisa?" Chamelamon asked with concern. She stood by Marisa's side, watching as her violet eyes slowly fluttered open.   
"Chamelamon?" she asked in a whisper. Marisa slowly sat up and looked around. Gray stone walls surrounded her, or so it appeared. The area was dimly lit, so it was hard for Marisa to see.   
"What happened?" she asked uncertainly.   
"Don't you remember? We fell through that old brick path," Chamelamon reminded her. Marisa gasped when she realized that she wasn't the only one who fell.   
"Where's Matt and Gabumon?" she asked Chamelamon.   
"Right here," Marisa heard Matt reply. She looked in the direction the voice came from and could barely make out the silhouettes of Matt and Gabumon in the shadows.   
"Where have you two been?" Marisa asked as she stood up. "  
We've been trying to find another way out of here," Gabumon explained.   
"Did you find anything?" Chamelamon asked. Matt nodded his head.  
"There's a tunnel over there," he explained pointing at a dark spot within the stone walls.   
"Problem is, it's so dark that we can't see where we're going."  
"There's gotta be a way we can see where we're going," Marisa muttered thoughtfully.   
"Well, unless you have a flashlight, I think we're stuck," Matt retorted. Suddenly, Marisa's foot hit something on the floor. Looking down, she recognized it as a piece of wooden board that broke from the foundation.  
"Maybe not, Matt," she replied as she picked up the piece of wood.   
"What do you mean?" Matt asked.   
"We can use this as a torch," Marisa explained, showing him the piece of wood in her hand.   
"Good idea," Matt admitted.   
"We just need to light it up."   
"I'll do it," Chamelamon offered. A small puff of fire flew from her mouth and lit the top of the makeshift torch.   
"Thanks, Chamelamon," Marisa told her. With the cavern now lit, the two kids and their Digimon could see debris scattered all over the floor.   
"You're right about that tunnel, Matt," Marisa replied as she looked down the tunnel that Matt mentioned earlier.  
"Let's just hope it leads us back to the top." She started to walk down the tunnel, with Chamelamon at her heels. Matt took a quick look among the debris and found another piece of wood. As he picked it up, Gabumon asked,   
"What's that for, Matt?"  
"We might need another torch, Gabumon," Matt explained.  
"Hey, Matt! Gabumon!" they heard Marisa shout.  
"You gotta see this!" Matt and Gabumon quickly ran through the tunnel and caught up with Marisa and Chamelamon. Matt gasped when he saw a massive cavern spread out before them. Twelve-foot stone walls criss-crossed all over the floor, creating a confusing labyrinth.  
"What do we do now, Matt?" Marisa asked.  
"Well, we can't turn around. Both of our Digimon can't fly, so we can't go back the way we came. We have no choice but to explore around here and try to find another way out," Matt explained.  
"That'll take a while," Marisa muttered as she looked over the maze.   
"Unless we split up," Matt suggested. Marisa looked up at him.   
"Are you sure, Matt?" she asked.   
"It'd be easy to get lost in there." Matt took his digivice off his jeans and held it in his hand.   
"Let me show you something, Marisa." She looked at his hand with the digivice. Matt pointed at a black button on the side of the digivice.   
"If you press this button," he explained, "we'll still be able to find each other." Matt pressed the button, and Marisa could see two red dots right next to each other. One was flashing, while the other was solid. "Those dots, are they you and me?" she asked. Matt nodded his head.  
"Whenever you see this dot on your digivice," he explained, pointing at the flashing red dot, "That means there's someone near you with another digivice." Marisa slowly nodded her head as though she understood. Matt put away his digivice and picked up the piece of wood he brought with him. Without a word, he stuck the tip of it in Marisa's torch, causing his to light up. Matt noticed a stone staircase leading down form the ledge to the labyrinth.  
"This way," he told Marisa as the four of them walked down the stairs. When they approached the labyrinth, there were two separate entrances visible.   
"I'll go this way, and you go that way," Matt told Marisa.   
"Okay, but what if we come across an evil Digimon?" Marisa asked.   
"Don't worry, Marisa. I'll protect you," Chamelamon assured her. "And Gabumon will take care of Matt." Marisa looked up and noticed that Matt and Gabumon had already left. Shivers went up and down her spine. She shook it off as she headed for the other entrance.   
"Let's go, Chamelamon," Marisa told her Digimon. As they walked further into the maze.  
Chamelamon asked, "Are you all right, Marisa? You seem upset about something." Marisa jumped nervously.   
"I-I'm not upset," she stuttered.   
"You're lying," Chamelamon pointed out.   
"It...It's Matt," Marisa reluctantly admitted.  
"He's been kind of rude to me today. First on the beach, then up there on that ledge, and then he leaves us without even saying anything..." She let out a frustrated sigh. "Matt acts too cool sometimes, and I don't like it. He's a bit self-absorbed, thinks only of himself." Marisa and Chamelamon turned another corner and discovered a stone wall blocking their way. "A dead end," Marisa muttered. Chamelamon was about to say something when she noticed some small carvings in the center of the wall. She walked closer so she could read it better.   
"Marisa, can you please come closer?" Chamelamon asked. "I need some more light."   
"What for?" Marisa asked as she came closer.   
"There's something written here in Digi-code," Chamelamon explained. Marisa held up the torch as Chamelamon looked over the series of carvings.  
"What does it say?" Marisa finally asked.  
" 'Warning to all Digimon. You have entered the Labyrinth of Minotaurmon. Turn around and leave while you still can,' " Chamelamon translated. The lizard Digimon gasped.   
"What's a Minotaurmon?" Marisa asked.  
"He's a huge bull Digimon with a nasty attitude," Chamelamon quickly explained. "Even worse, Minotaurmon works for Armaggedamon."  
"We have to find Matt and Gabumon, and warn them," Marisa exclaimed. They quickly found their way back to the entrances and went into the one that Matt entered. Marisa and Chamelamon stopped when they reached an intersection.  
"Which way now?" Chamelamon asked.   
"I don't know," Marisa admitted. Then, she remembered what Matt showed her on his digivice. She took hers off of her shorts and pressed the black button. Instantly, a small map of the labyrinth and two red dots appeared, one flashing and one solid. After carefully looking over the map, Marisa looked up and announced,  
"This way, Chamelamon." She turned right and ran down the path, followed by her Digimon... Matt and Gabumon walked cautiously through the labyrinth.   
"I wonder what a labyrinth is doing all the way down here," Matt muttered out loud.   
"I don't know," Gabumon admitted as they turned down another path.   
"What's that, Matt?" Gabumon asked, pointing to an old altar. Matt shrugged in response.   
"Might as well check it out," he suggested, heading to the building. Matt and Gabumon gasped when they entered the altar. There were tall white marble columns, forming a complete circle, and intrigue carvings everywhere. It reminded Matt of those old buildings from ancient Rome.   
"Hey, Matt, look at that!" Gabumon exclaimed, pointing to a statue, which was standing on a marble pedestal, in the middle of the room. It was about nine and a half feet tall, and looked like a cross between a bull and a human. The creature had a spiked club in one hand and a long chain in the other.   
"It looks so real," Gabumon pointed out.   
"You're right, it does. Almost too real," Matt muttered thoughtfully. Suddenly, the statue's eyes began to glow bright red.  
"Who dares enter my labyrinth? Be gone!" the bull Digimon snorted angrily as it stepped off of the pedestal.  
"Matt, watch out! It's Minotaurmon!" Marisa shouted as she and Chamelamon ran into the building. She gasped when she saw the huge bull Digimon.   
"I think it's safe to say that they already know," Chamelamon remarked.   
"Gabumon, get ready," Matt told his Digimon. "Right, Matt," Gabumon agreed as he ran toward Minotaurmon. "Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!" Marisa was shocked to see the huge blue wolf as he jumped on Minotaurmon.   
"Come on, Marisa! We gotta get out of here, now!" Matt exclaimed. He grabbed Marisa's hand and they ran out of the temple, followed by Chamelamon.   
"Do you really think he stands a chance against Minotaurmon?" Marisa asked as they continued down the maze of corridors. Before Matt could answer, they heard Minotaurmon yell,   
"Blind Rage!" Matt quickly pulled Marisa down to the ground and wrapped his arms around her for protection. Chamelamon ducked alongside them as a section of wall came tumbling down. They managed to avoid being buried in the rubble. When they opened their eyes, Matt, Marisa, and Chamelamon were shocked to see Garurumon lying on top of the pile of rubble.  
"Garurumon!" Matt shouted. He let go of Marisa and ran toward his Digimon. "Are you all right?" he asked as Garurumon slowly tried to stand up.  
"You should be worried more about yourself, kid!" Matt heard Minotaurmon yell. He turned around and saw Minotaurmon standing at the hole in the broken wall.  
"Get out of the way," Garurumon shouted as he stood between Matt and Minotaurmon. "Howling Blaster!"   
"Blind Rage!" Minotaurmon shouted as he swung his club. The club hit the blast of blue energy and hit Garurumon head on. Minotaurmon chuckled sinisterly.   
"Now, it's your turn, kid. Grappling Chains!" he shouted. The long chain in his hand went flying straight toward Matt. To Matt's surprise, before the chain could reach him, Marisa pushed him out of the way. "Marisa!" Matt yelled as he watched the chain wrap itself tightly around Marisa. He tried to grab her, but Minotaurmon yanked hard on the chain, pulling Marisa out of Matt's reach.  
"Not whom I originally wanted, but she'll do," Minotaurmon snorted as he looked at his prize.   
"You better let her go, you big bully!" Chamelamon demanded.   
"And what are you gonna do if I don't, little one?" Minotaurmon asked sarcastically.   
"Fire Spin!" Chamelamon shouted. Minotaurmon deflected her attack and shouted,  
"Blind Rage!" He swung his club, forming a boomerang of yellow energy. The boomerang nailed Chamelamon and sent her flying.   
"Chamelamon!" Marisa shouted. Out of anger, she kicked Minotaurmon in the knee hard.   
"Oww!" he groaned in pain. Anger was burning in his eyes as he stared at Marisa.   
"You'll pay for that, Digi-Destined brat!" Minotaurmon yelled as he pulled the chain taunt around Marisa's body. Tears were welling up in her eyes from the overbearing pain.   
"Stop it! You're hurting her!" Matt yelled. Chamelamon slowly got up and saw the trouble Marisa was in. "MARISA!" she shouted. Suddenly, Marisa's digivice went off. Knowing what was going to happen, Matt took a quick look at Chamelamon, who was now bathed in a white light. The brilliant light filled up the entire cavern.  
"Ahh! That light!" Minotaurmon yelled as he covered his eyes, causing him to drop Marisa. "Chamelamon digivolve to...Dragomon!" Marisa was surprised beyond words. Standing where Chamelamon used to be was a huge deep burgundy dragon with a magenta belly. She felt a gloved hand on her shoulder and looked up at Matt.   
"We better get out of the way," he explained as he removed the chains and helped her up. They ran out of the way as Dragomon prepared to face off against Minotaurmon.   
"You really think you, a Champion Digimon, can fight me?" Minotaurmon asked sarcastically. Dragomon growled deeply as a response. "Are you forgetting me, you overgrown ox?" a familiar voice growled.   
"It's Garurumon!" Marisa exclaimed as the blue wolf Digimon leapt next to Dragomon. "Oh, there's two of you now. I'm really scared!" Minotaurmon retorted.   
"Blind Rage!" he shouted, sending the boomerang of yellow energy straight at Dragomon. Dragomon managed to fly out of the way of the attack.   
"Ready, Garurumon?" she asked. Garurumon nodded his head. "Howling Blaster!" he shouted.   
"Inferno Blast!" Dragomon shouted. She opened her mouth, and a massive blast of fire flew out. Both attacks nailed Minotaurmon head on, burning him till all his dark brown fur was singed charcoal gray. He snorted out two puffs of smoke from his nostrils.   
"That's it! I'm outta here!" he yelled as he made a hasty retreat. As Minotaurmon ran, he dropped a black walkie-talkie, which broke as soon as it hit the ground.  
"That was incredible, Dragomon," Marisa exclaimed as Dragomon landed on the ground next to her. "Don't forget, Marisa. I'm here to protect you," Dragomon told her. Marisa smiled at her Digimon.   
"You sure you're okay, Garurumon?" she heard Matt ask. Marisa turned around and saw Matt standing in front of an obviously exhausted Garurumon.   
"I'm fine, Matt. Just a little tired," Garurumon muttered out loud. Suddenly, to Marisa's surprise, Garurumon de-digivolved back into Gabumon. "Is he gonna be all right?" Marisa asked with concern. "Don't worry about it, Marisa," Matt assured her as he helped Gabumon stand up. Marisa looked back up at Dragomon and a smile slowly formed on her face.   
"I think I know a way out of here," she announced...   
"Keep lowering me down," Marni shouted. She was about fifteen feet down the hole that her sister and Matt fell into. Back on the surface, Palmon was carefully lowering Marni down with her vines while everyone else watched.  
"Do you see anything yet, Marni?" Tai yelled down the hole.   
"I can't even see the bottom, Tai," Marni yelled back.   
"Keep lowering me down, Palmon." Suddenly, the kids and their Digimon heard Marni scream, "Ahh! Pull me up! Pull me up!" Palmon quickly pulled Marni out of the hole and set her on solid ground. As she took in several gasps of air, Izzy asked,   
"What's wrong, Marni? What did you see?"   
"Dragon! Big, huge dragon!" Marni managed to get out between gasps.  
"A dragon? Yeah, right," Yuuchi retorted. "Are you calling me a liar? I know what I saw!" Marni shouted. She was about ready to slug Yuuchi until Tai step in between them.   
"Calm down, Marni. This isn't helping your sister," he reminded Marni. Marni groaned as she reluctantly put down her fist. All of a sudden, a roar was heard from inside the hole. All of the kids gasped when they heard this noise. As they looked toward the hole, a huge burgundy creature that looked a lot like a dragon flew out.   
"See! I told you!" Marni yelled at Yuuchi.   
"What do we do?" Zack asked.  
"Well, I'm up for running away," Joe suggested nervously. "  
For once, I agree with Joe," Sora remarked. The dragon Digimon suddenly dove down toward the Digi-Destined and their Digimon. They screamed and ran down the brick path. The dragon Digimon flew ahead of them and landed on the brick path, blocking their path.   
"Oh, no!" Mimi wailed. "I don't want to be a Digi-snack!"   
"We have no choice! We gotta fight!" Tai told the others. "No, don't hurt Dragomon!" they heard Marisa shout. Marni looked up and was both surprised and relieved to see her sister standing next to Dragomon. "Marisa, you're okay!" she exclaimed.   
"Marisa, where's my brother?" T.K. asked.   
"Right here, T.K.," Matt told him as he and Gabumon climbed off of Dragomon's back.   
"Matt!" T.K. exclaimed as he hugged Matt. Just then, Dragomon de-digivolved back to Chamelamon.   
"So, that's the Champion form of Chamelamon? Hmm, interesting," Izzy muttered thoughtfully.   
"That was totally wicked, Marisa," Marni exclaimed. Marisa giggled a bit.   
"Now that Matt and Marisa are back, let's keep going," Tai announced as he led everyone down the path. Matt and Marisa were in back of the group.   
"Hey, Marisa?" Matt asked.  
"What?" Marisa asked.   
"I'm sorry about earlier. I know I've been kinda rude to you before, and I want to apologize," he explained. "No big deal, Matt. Forget about it," Marisa assured him.   
"I also wanted to thank you, for saving me," Matt added.   
"Well, you did the same for me, Matt," Marisa admitted as her cheeks turned red.   
"Better hurry up, you two. We're losing the others!" Chamelamon exclaimed. Matt and Marisa looked up and realized that she was right.   
"Come on, Marisa," Matt shouted as he and Gabumon ran after the others. Marisa smiled as she and Chamelamon tried to keep up with him...TO BE CONTINUED   
  



	5. From the Depths 5

Disclaimer: We (dreamcatcher and I) Don't own Digimon some mean company does, so don't sue us 'cause you won't get much  
  
Part Five: Neo Nanmimon at the Digi-Carnival   
  
"Whew!" Yuuchi panted as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. The Digi-Destined had left the stretch of forest hours ago and were now crossing a seemingly endless desert. Suddenly, Yuuchi noticed something unusual in the distance and stopped walking.   
"What's the matter, Yuuchi?" Nanmimon asked.   
"Hey, why'd you stop?" Marni asked as she, Marisa, Zack and their Digimon stopped to see what Yuuchi and Nanmimon were staring at.   
"Do you guys see that?" Yuuchi asked, pointing at an upside-down pyramid in the distance. "Either my head's on the wrong way, or whoever built this thing had his head on the wrong way!" he remarked. Marni laughed at his remark.   
"You're definitely right about that, Yuuchi," she admitted.  
"Hey, what's the holdup?" Tai asked. Yuuchi and the other kids looked at Tai and his friends, who were looking at them curiously.   
"I can't believe you guys just walked right past this without even looking," Yuuchi exclaimed, pointing at the pyramid. "It's not every day you see an upside-down pyramid!" "Yeah, I guess, but we've already seen it before," Tai explained.   
"Now, let's get going!" As Tai turned around, he suddenly tripped over a crumpled up ball of paper and fell flat on his face.   
"Are you all right, Tai?" Agumon asked as Tai got up and shook the sand out of his hair. "Just terrific," he muttered. Out of curiosity, Kari picked up the crumpled ball of paper and opened it up.   
"What is it?" Gatomon asked as she looked up at Kari.   
"It looks like a poster," Kari replied. Tai and the other kids looked over Kari's shoulders to see what the fuss was about.   
"What the heck is a Digi-Carnival?" Marni asked.   
"I'm guessing it's a carnival here in the Digiworld," Yuuchi replied a bit rudely.   
" 'Digi-Carnival: Reopened. Free admission! Free rides! Free food! And a magic show!' " Tai read aloud.   
"Sounds cool!" Yuuchi exclaimed.   
"Hey, Patamon, do you think that the carnival's at that place where we first ran into Demidevimon?" T.K. asked.   
"Hmm...I think you're right, T.K.," Patamon replied.   
"And where is this place, T.K.?" Marisa asked.   
"Over there," T.K. told her, pointing at a patch of woods in the distance.   
"How about we all go to this Digi-carnival?" Marni suggested.   
"Yeah!" Yuuchi exclaimed.   
"Hold on," Izzy interrupted.   
"This carnival could be a trap to lure us out in the open."   
"Izzy does have a good point," Joe agreed.   
"Who made you two deputies of the Fun Police?" Yuuchi retorted, referring to both Izzy and Joe.   
"I got an idea. Since we'll be passing this carnival anyway," Tai explained,   
"we'll at least check it out. If it looks suspicious, like there's no one there, we'll leave. If not, we'll stay for a while. Everyone okay with that?" The other kids nodded in approval. "Okay, let's go!" Tai shouted as he led the way...   
The kids have finally arrived at the Digi-Carnival. Next to the entrance was a ticket booth. Yuuchi peered inside the window. Sleeping on a chair was a green blob-like Digimon with purple spots and big bug eyes.   
"What the heck is that?" Yuuchi whispered to Tai and Mimi, who were also looking through the window.  
"It's a Numemon," Mimi whispered.  
"Hey, wake up!" Tai shouted as he knocked loudly on the glass. The Numemon woke up with a start and fell out of its chair.   
"What did you wake me up for, kid?" it asked as it rubbed its eyes.   
"Tell us, is this for real?" Tai asked as he showed the Numemon the crumpled poster. It looked over the flyer and replied,   
"Sure is, kid. This is the first day the Digi-Carnival reopened, so everything today is free." "Come on, guys. Let's check this out," Tai announced to the others as they cautiously entered the carnival. As they passed the ticket booth, the Numemon opened its window, popped its head out, and shouted,   
"Don't forget to check out our magic show! It's the best one in the Digiworld!" As the twelve kids and their Digimon walked down the stone path, Yuuchi, Marni, Marisa, and Zack were taking everything in. Yuuchi looked back at Tai and his friends, who were obviously tense about the situation.   
"Come on, guys! Loosen up a bit, will ya?" he retorted.   
"We're just trying to be careful, Yuuchi," Matt replied.   
"This whole thing could be a trap, you know."   
"Someone grab a fire extinguisher!" Zack exclaimed as he, Marni, and Marisa stopped dead in their tracks.   
"That guy's on fire!" He pointed at a tall fiery Digimon, whom the original Digi-Destined and their Digimon recognized   
"Don't worry, Zack. That's just Meramon," Biyomon explained.   
"He's a fiery Digimon, so he always looks like that." Meramon was passing out hot dogs and peanuts to a group of Yokomon.  
"Look, Tai. Koromon!" Agumon exclaimed, recognizing his In-Training form. The small group of Koromon were gathered around the dunk booth game. The Digi-Destined stopped and watched as one of the Koromon hopped on top of a small crate.   
"Come on, Koromon! Hit me with your best shot!" a Numemon taunted the Koromon from inside the dunk booth. The Koromon ignored the Numemon as he focused on the target.   
"Bubble Blow!" he shouted before spitting out three pink bubbles. The first two bubbles missed the target, but the last one nailed it head on. The Numemon gasped as the seat dropped below him and he landed in a pool of water. The Koromon and the kids laughed. "He's all wet," Yuuchi remarked. "Here you go!" another Numemon announced as he handed the winning Koromon his prize: a small stuffed Monzaemon toy. "Congratulations!" the other Koromon chorused as they all left the dunk booth game.   
"Lookit! It's Frigimon!" T.K. exclaimed.   
"Looks like a walking snowman," Marni muttered out loud as the Frigimon walked past them, pushing an ice cream cart.   
"So, Tai, can we stay for a while?" Yuuchi asked cautiously. Tai was thinking quietly about it.   
"Well, since there are so many of our old friends here, I don't see why we can't stay, Tai. We could use the break," Izzy informed him.   
"Well...okay," Tai finally replied. "Yeah!" the rest of the group cheered.   
"How about we meet by the entrance in three hours?" he suggested. The other kids nodded in agreement.   
"Come on, Marisa! Let's go on the roller coaster!" Marni exclaimed, dragging her sister away from the group.  
"Wait for usss!" Snakemon shouted as he and Chamelamon tried to keep up.   
"Matt, can we play some games, please?" T.K. pleaded.   
"Sure, T.K.," Matt replied as the two of them, followed by Gabumon and Patamon, headed for the game booths.   
"I'm going on the Ferris wheel," Sora announced as she headed toward the Ferris wheel in the distance, followed by Biyomon.   
"Mind if Palmon and I join you, Sora?" Mimi asked.   
"Sure, Mimi," Sora replied as the two girls and their Digimon headed for the Ferris wheel.   
"Tai?" Kari asked. "What is it, Kari?" Tai asked.   
"Can we go to this magic show?" she asked. "Sure, Kari," Tai replied as they walked away. Cheetamon's stomach suddenly growled loudly.   
"Zack, I'm hungry," he told his human friend.   
"That's kind of obvious," Zack muttered. "Come to think of it, I'm kind of hungry, too," he admitted. "We'll get some hot dogs."   
"What's a hot dog?" Cheetamon asked as they headed back toward Meramon. Izzy, Tentomon, Joe, and Gomamon groaned.   
"Looks like we all agree with Zack and Cheetamon," Izzy replied. They ran in the same direction Zack and Cheetamon went, leaving Yuuchi and Nanmimon by themselves.   
"Should we go with them?" Nanmimon asked.   
"Nah! Let's check out the carnival," Yuuchi suggested. The two of them continued down the path.   
"You know, I haven't been to one of these in a long time," Yuuchi admitted as he looked around.   
"Looks like fun, Yuuchi," Nanmimon added as he looked around. But something about this place didn't feel right to the Digimon. "However, I'm getting a bad feeling about this place," he admitted, looking up at his human friend.   
"You know, sometimes I think Joe and I accidentally got our Digimon switched. You worry too much," Yuuchi retorted, grinning at Nanmimon.   
"Are you saying Gomamon's more fun than me?" his Digimon asked. Yuuchi realized that he just hurt Nanmimon's feelings.   
"I'm sorry, Nanmimon. I didn't mean that," he apologized. Nanmimon looked up at him and smiled.  
"Thanks, Yuuchi," he replied. "Now, come on! This is a carnival, so let's have some fun!" Nanmimon galloped ahead as Yuuchi tried to keep up with him...   
Meanwhile, Tai, Agumon, Kari, and Gatomon were sitting on a long wooden bench inside a small tent. There were a few more long benches, which were mostly crowded with Yokomon, Koromon, and Numemon. In front of the benches was a stage with red curtains. A spotlight appeared on stage, revealing a Numemon dressed in a red-and-white pinstriped jacket and white wide-brimmed straw hat.   
"Ladies, gentlemen, children, and Digimon!" the Numemon yelled. "Presenting the greatest magic act in the entire world, please put your hands together for...Houdinimon!"   
Everyone applauded as the Digimon stepped on stage, pushing a small table covered by a tablecloth with him. He was dressed in a deep violet tuxedo with matching cape, and a top hat. A white mask with a black diamond on the cheek covered half of his face. He also carried a black cane with a silver handle.  
"Welcome, everyone!" Houdinimon greeted. He tapped the handle of his cane against the table, and a bouquet of flowers appeared. Everyone applauded as Houdinimon handed the flowers to a Yokomon in the front row. As Houdinimon got back on stage, he took off his top hat, revealing slicked-back, reddish-brown hair.   
"As you all can clearly see," Houdinimon announced as he showed everyone the empty hat,   
"there is absolutely nothing inside. But, if you watch very carefully..." He placed the hat on the table and stuck first his hand, then his arm inside the hat.   
"How can he do that, Tai?" Agumon whispered.   
"It's just a trick, Agumon," Tai whispered. "You see, that table has a hole in it, and whatever he's gonna pull out of his hat is right underneath the table."   
To Tai and Agumon's surprise, Houdinimon no longer had the hat on the table. It was still halfway down his arm, though. Using his other hand, Houdinimon slowly removed the hat from his arm. Balancing the hat in one hand, Houdinimon removed his hand from the hat, pulling out a Gazimon by its ears. Everyone gasped and then applauded. Houdinimon let go of the Gazimon and they both bowed. As the Gazimon stepped off of the stage, Houdinimon announced,   
"For my next trick, I'll need a volunteer."   
The Koromon and Yokomon bounced up and down on the benches.   
"Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!" they chanted as Houdinimon looked over the audience. "How about...you? The young girl sitting next to the Gatomon," he announced.   
"Me?" Kari asked, pointing to herself.   
"Yes, you. Come up here, please," Houdinimon insisted. Kari got off of the bench and joined Houdinimon on stage.   
"What's your name?" he asked.   
"Kari," she replied.   
"Please give a hand for Kari, everyone," Houndinimon announced.   
As everyone applauded, the same Gazimon from earlier brought a large blue box decorated with gold stars on stage.   
"As you all can plainly see," Houdinimon explained as he opened the door, "there's nothing inside this box. No trap doors, no secret chambers." He took his cane and hit it against the walls inside the box to prove his point.   
"Will you please step inside, Kari?" he asked. Without hesitating, Kari stepped inside, and Houdinimon closed the door. He spun the box around clockwise, held up his cane, and tapped the top of the box. A puff of smoke appeared and the door popped open.   
Tai, Agumon, Gatomon, and the other Digimon gasped when they saw that Kari had disappeared.   
"Did you see that?" Agumon exclaimed. Tai slowly nodded his head.   
"He's gonna bring her back, right, Tai?" Gatomon asked, who was obviously a bit worried. "Of course, he'll bring her back," Tai assured his sister's Digimon.   
"As you all know, this trick is only halfway done," Houdinimon announced as he closed the box and quickly spun it around counterclockwise. Once again, Houdinimon tapped the top of the box with his cane. The door popped open, and there was Kari, standing inside.   
Everyone applauded as Kari stepped out of the box with Houdinimon's help.  
"See, Gatomon? Kari's fine," Tai told Gatomon as they clapped.   
"Give a hand for my assistant, Kari," Houdinimon yelled. He and Kari bowed to the audience. "Here, Kari. This is for you," Houdinimon whispered as he extended a closed fist in front of Kari. The young girl watched as he opened his fist. She gasped when she saw the violet-blue rose resting in Houdinimon's hand.   
"It's pretty," Kari commented.   
"This is a gift from me, for being such a good assistant, Kari," Houdinimon explained.   
"Thank you, Houdinimon," Kari thanked him as she took the rose from his hand. She got off the stage and joined Tai, Agumon, and Gatomon...   
The group headed out of the tent after the show was done. They looked around the crowd of mostly Digimon until they saw two familiar faces.   
"Hey, Yuuchi! Nanmimon!" Kari shouted, waving her hand. Yuuchi looked around until he found them and ran to Kari and Tai.   
"Hey, having fun?" Yuuchi asked them.   
"Yeah, we saw this magic show just a little while ago," Tai admitted.   
"And Houdinimon gave me this flower," Kari added, showing the flower to Yuuchi before smelling it. "Smells...nice," she murmured before falling to the ground.   
"Kari?" Tai asked as he immediately came to her side and lifted her up into a sitting position.   
Yuuchi looked curiously at the violet-blue rose, which was now lying on the ground. He bent down and was about to pick it up when Nanmimon shouted,   
"Yuuchi, don't!" "Why? What's wrong, Nanmimon?" Yuuchi asked.   
"I recognize that flower. Its scent can put any human or Digimon to sleep," Nanmimon explained.   
"Wait until I get my claws on that magician..." Gatomon muttered angrily.   
"I wonder why that guy would want Kari asleep," Yuuchi muttered out loud.   
"Maybe he didn't know that flower could put people to sleep," Agumon suggested.   
"Hold on. Did Kari say the Digimon's name was Houdinimon?" Nanmimon asked.  
"Yeah, that's him. Why?" Tai asked.   
"Believe me, Houdinimon knew that rose would put Kari to sleep," Nanmimon muttered out loud.  
"Don't tell me. Houdinimon's an evil Digimon working for Armaggedamon, right?" Yuuchi guessed.   
"Afraid so," Nanmimon replied.   
"Houdinimon is very powerful. He can create illusions so real that anyone could be fooled." Yuuchi suddenly realized what was going on.   
"You mean this whole thing is an illusion?" he exclaimed.   
"Must be. He did it to draw us out," Nanmimon explained.   
"I'll bet everything we saw was not real, like the Koromon. Houdinimon created them to fool you and your friends, Tai. To make things worse, everyone's scattered all over the carnival. Houdinimon might have already captured them."   
"You're just full of good news, aren't you, Nanmimon?" Yuuchi retorted sarcastically. "Nanmimon, will Kari ever wake up?" Gatomon asked worriedly.   
"Not on her own," Nanmimon replied.   
"Then how are we gonna wake her up?" Tai asked. "The only known cure is a rare flower that grows in the desert. Come to think of it, I think I saw that flower on the way here!" "Don't worry, Tai. We'll get that flower for Kari," Yuuchi announced.   
"Okay, but someone has to go find the others before Houdinimon does," Tai muttered, looking down at his sleeping sister.   
"But, I can't leave Kari by herself, and I can't carry her all around the carnival."   
"Leave her here, Tai. I'll look after her," Gatomon told him.  
"Okay," Tai agreed hesitantly.   
"We'll be back soon with that flower, Tai," Yuuchi assured him as he and Nanmimon headed for the entrance.   
"Let's hurry, Agumon. We gotta find the others, and quick!" Tai exclaimed. He and Agumon ran out from the space between the two tents, leaving Gatomon to guard Kari...   
"Hey, what's going on?" Mimi exclaimed. The Ferris wheel had suddenly stopped, leaving her, Sora, Biyomon, and Palmon hanging on top of the Ferris wheel.   
"What'd you do that for?" Biyomon yelled down at the Numemon who had pulled the lever running the Ferris wheel. The Numemon looked up at them and disappeared into thin air. The two girls and their Digimon gasped.   
"I have a bad feeling about this," Sora admitted. "Izzy might be right about this being a trap. Numemon don't just disappear like that!"   
"Maybe I can get the Ferris wheel started again," Palmon thought aloud.   
"Poison Ivy!" She extended her vines as far as she could, but she couldn't reach the lever. "Almost got it," Palmon grunted as she leaned forward in the seat. Everyone screamed as the seat nearly tipped over. Palmon almost fell out of the seat, but Mimi, with Sora's help, caught her and managed to pull her back in.   
"Thank you, Mimi," Palmon exclaimed. "Looks like we're stuck here," Sora muttered...   
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm stuffed!" Cheetamon exclaimed.   
"No kidding, Cheetamon! You had like a dozen hot dogs!" Zack retorted.   
"To be more precise, it was actually fifteen hot dogs," Izzy added.   
"But, they were good," Cheetamon remarked.   
"Why do they call them hot dogs, Joe?" Gomamon asked Joe, looking over the half-eaten hot dog in his paw. "Is it because they're made out of dogs?"   
"No, of course not!" Joe shouted.   
"If that was true, I wouldn't eat a hot dog ever again," Zack muttered.   
Izzy, Joe, Tentomon, Gomamon, and Cheetamon laughed at Zack's comment. Zack eventually joined in. Suddenly, a huge net dropped down on them.   
"Hey!" Izzy exclaimed as he and his friends tried to get the net off. They only ended up getting tangled in it. The three boys and their Digimon watched helplessly as four Numemon grabbed the net and threw them into a nearby tent.   
"Oww!" Zack yelled as they hit the hard-packed earth.   
"Excellent job. You're no longer needed," a voice replied from the shadows. To the kids' surprise, the Numemon disappeared into thin air. "  
That's impossible!" Izzy exclaimed. "Numemon can't just disappear like that!"   
"Wise up, kid. That was just an illusion," the voice replied again. A pair of glowing red eyes appeared from the shadows where the voice came from. They could barely make out the silhouette of someone dressed in a tuxedo, cape, and top hat. The Digimon chuckled sinisterly as he stepped out of the shadows.   
"Who is that?" Joe asked. "Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself," he exclaimed sarcastically as he took off his hat and bowed.  
"The name is Houdinimon."   
"I know that name!" Cheetamon gasped. "You're one of Armaggedamon's hench-mon!" "So true, so true," Houdinimon gloated. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to, such as capturing the rest of the Digi-Destined. Farewell, for now." With that, Houdinimon left, leaving Zack, Izzy, Joe, Cheetamon, Tentomon, and Gomamon alone in the tent...   
"Aww! You missed again," T.K. exclaimed. He and Matt were at the milk bottle game. Matt just threw his second ball at the stack of six metal milk bottles, but it barely nicked the top bottle. Now he only had one ball left.   
"I'm just a little tired, T.K.," Matt explained. "We've been playing games for almost an hour now. Anyway, I heard they booby-trap this kind of game. They glue the bottles together so no one can knock them down."   
"Stop making up excuses, Matt," Marni interrupted. Matt and T.K. looked up and saw Marni and Marisa standing next to them.  
"What are you saying, Marni?" Matt asked. "You're just making up stuff 'cause you throw like a girl!" Marni retorted.   
"I do not! You better take that back, Marni," Matt yelled.  
"Stop it, you two," Marisa interrupted, stepping in between them.   
"What? I'm just telling him the truth, Marisa," Marni explained as she picked up the last ball. She took a pitcher's stance, looked carefully at the target, and pitched the ball as hard as she could. The ball connected and knocked down all six milk bottles.   
"Niccce job, Marni!" Snakemon exclaimed. Marni had a smug smile on her face.   
"Come on," she told Snakemon as they walked away. Marisa noticed that Matt was looking down at the ground, his face red with embarrassment.   
"Don't let her get to you, Matt," she told him. "Marni likes to show off, even if she ends up embarrassing someone in the process."   
"Hey, guys! Listen up!" they heard Tai yell. Matt, Marisa, T.K., and Marni noticed Tai and Agumon running toward them.   
"What's wrong, Tai?" Marni asked. "And where's Kari?" T.K. asked.  
"Guys, this whole carnival is a trap," Tai started. "There's this Digimon called Houdinimon who's running this place, and it turns out he works for Armaggedamon," Agumon added. The kids gasped when they heard this.   
"To make things worse, that creep gave some weird flower to Kari that put her to sleep!" Tai muttered angrily.   
"Where is she, Tai?" Marisa asked.   
"She's in between the two tents near the entrance. Gatomon's keeping an eye on her, and Yuuchi and Nanmimon are getting some flower that's supposed to wake her up. We gotta warn the others about Houdinimon before it's too late."   
"T.K., I want you to go to where Kari is," Matt told his little brother.   
"Someone needs to stay with her to protect her. Think you can handle that?" "I'll do my best, Matt," T.K. agreed as he ran off, followed by Patamon...   
After T.K. and Patamon left, the four kids started to look for the others. They looked all over the place with no luck.   
"Where could they have gone?" Marisa asked, looking around.   
"Who knows?" Matt muttered. "Perhaps I know where your friends are," a voice replied. The kids turned around and saw Houdinimon in the shadows.   
"It's Houdinimon!" Agumon exclaimed.   
"Where are our friends?" Tai shouted angrily. The Digimon smirked a bit.   
"If you wish to find your friends, follow me," he remarked, running off.   
"I don't know if we should trust him," Chamelamon replied uncertainly.   
"We don't really have a choice," Tai muttered angrily, running off in the direction Houdinimon went.   
"Tai, wait up!" Matt shouted as he, Marni, Marisa, and their Digimon tried to keep up with Tai and Agumon. They eventually came upon a big building.   
" 'House of Mirrors?' " Marni read from the sign. "He went in there. I'm sure of it," Gabumon added.  
"We might as well go in. We looked everywhere else," Matt reminded the others. The four kids and their Digimon walked up the steps and into the House of Mirrors, only to find dozens of mirrors.   
"Am I the only one who thinks this place is just screaming 'TRAP?' " Marni asked sarcastically. Everyone ignored her as they carefully looked around at the surrounding mirrors.   
"Look out!" Matt shouted. The others turned their heads and saw Houdinimon standing in plain sight.  
"I'll get him, Tai. Pepper Breath!" Agumon shouted. The ball of fire hit Houdinimon, or so they thought.   
"Aww, man!" Tai exclaimed as he stepped toward the mirror with a round black charred mark right in the center.   
"It was just his reflection. We missed him!"   
Out of frustration, he punched the slightly charred mirror, leaving a noticeable dent in the glass. Just then, Houdinimon laughed abruptly. His sinister laugh echoed throughout the room.   
"Where did that come from?" Marisa asked fearfully. She backed up, constantly turning her head, until her back hit one of the several mirrors. Suddenly, Marisa felt herself being pulled into the mirror!   
"Somebody help me!" she screamed.  
"Marisa!" Chamelamon shouted as she tried to pull Marisa out. Unfortunately, both Marisa and Chamelamon were pulled into the mirror.   
"Marisa?" Marni shouted as she examined the mirror. She looked at Matt and Tai, who were in shock.   
"Well, don't just stand there!" she yelled angrily.  
"Help me out here, guys!" Tai and Matt approached the mirror and helped Marni look for any sort of lever or trap door.  
"Marni!" they suddenly heard Marisa shout from behind them. She was in another mirror right behind them.   
"Marisa? How did you get over there?" Marni asked as she walked toward the other mirror. Snakemon eyed the entrapped Marisa uncertainly.   
"If that'sss really Marisssa, then where'sss Chamelamon?" he thought to himself. "Marni, get away from there! It'sss a trap!" Snakemon shouted. Marni stopped a few feet short from the mirror. As she turned her head, the reflection of Marisa became furious and changed into Houdinimon. He reached through the mirror, grabbed Marni's arm, and pulled her into the mirror. Snakemon tried to grab her, but he got pulled into the mirror as well.   
"Marni!" Tai shouted as he examined the mirror.   
"Don't touch the mirrors, Tai," Matt warned him.   
"That's probably how Marni and Marisa got trapped." Suddenly, Agumon saw Houdinimon stepping out of one of the mirrors.   
"Look, there he is!" he shouted, pointing at the retreating Digimon.   
"We got him now!" Tai exclaimed as he, Agumon, Matt, and Gabumon ran after Houdinimon. They headed down a short hallway, which led into another room of mirrors. They found Houdinimon inside yet another mirror, chuckling sinisterly.   
"Come on out and fight, Houdinimon!" Tai shouted.  
"Why should I fight by your rules, Digi-Destined? You're in my world now," Houdinimon reminded him.   
"You can't trick us into falling for your mirror traps," Matt told him. "  
You're out of tricks."   
"Don't be so sure. Hankie Wrap!" Houdinimon shouted. He opened his jacket, and four separate chains of colorful handkerchiefs flew out. The chains of handkerchiefs wrapped themselves tightly around Tai, Agumon, Matt, and Gabumon. As they each fell to the ground, Houdinimon finally stepped out of the mirror.   
"Agumon, digivolve!" Tai shouted to his Digimon friend.   
"You, too, Gabumon!" Matt added.   
"Try if you wish, but your Digimon won't be able to digivolve," Houdinimon sneered. "And why not?" Tai asked as he tried to squirm out of the chain of hankies.   
"All of my traps are Digi-proof," Houdinimon explained.   
"Now, with you two out of the way, I only have three more Digi-Destined kids to find. There's your little sister, your little brother, and also that boy with the Nanmimon."   
Houdinimon laughed sinisterly as he walked past the two kids and their Digimon, who were still tied up.   
"Did you hear that, Tai?" Matt asked.   
"T.K., Kari, and Yuuchi are the only ones left. Houdinimon captured everyone else." Tai nodded his head. "Problem is that with Kari asleep, Gatomon can't digivolve," Tai admitted,   
"and Yuuchi and Nanmimon are probably still out in the desert somewhere. Looks like it's all up to T.K. and Patamon now..."   
Meanwhile, Yuuchi and Nanmimon had returned to the Digi-Carnival. In Yuuchi's hand was a small bright orange flower that looked similar to a poppy.   
"Do you see that, Yuuchi?" Nanmimon asked. Yuuchi looked around and noticed that the carnival was totally empty. A thin gray haze filled the empty streets, rides, and booths. The boy felt shivers going up and down his spine.   
"I sure do," Yuuchi admitted as he shook off the feeling.   
"I knew there was something strange about this place," Nanmimon muttered as they carefully made their way to Kari's hiding spot.   
"So, what are we supposed to do as soon as we get to Kari?" Yuuchi asked, looking at his Digimon.  
"All she has to do is smell it," Nanmimon told him.   
"That's it? Nothing harder?" Yuuchi asked surprisingly.  
"Nope, that's it. Easy, huh?" Nanmimon asked. Yuuchi nodded. They approached where they had left Kari.   
"T.K.? What are you doing here? Why aren't you with your brother, Matt?" Yuuchi asked. "He told me to come here and watch Kari until you came back," T.K. explained.   
"Yuuchi, you're wasting time," Nanmimon reminded him.  
"Sorry," Yuuchi apologized. He walked over to Kari, and placed the bright orange flower under her nose. In a few moments, Kari slowly opened her eyes and looked around.   
"What happened? Did I fall asleep?" she asked.   
"Yeah. Houdinimon made you fall asleep with that rose he gave you," Gatomon explained, pointing at the blue-violet flower lying on the ground.   
"Surprising such a pretty flower can be so troublesome," Kari muttered. "Yeah," T.K. added.   
"So, this is where you've been hiding? At least I don't have to look for you," a familiar voice boomed. Standing before them was Houdinimon.   
"You could have hurt Kari!" Gatomon shouted angrily.   
"Oh, really? I'm SO sorry," Houdinimon retorted sarcastically. His crude remark only made Gatomon more furious.   
"Lightning Paw!" she shouted as she leapt at Houdinimon. He snickered as he simply swung his arm at Gatomon, hitting her in the stomach.   
"Gatomon!" Kari shouted as her Digimon sailed over their heads and went through the entrance of the main tent behind them. Kari stood up and ran into the tent, followed by T.K., Patamon, Yuuchi, and Nanmimon.  
"Gatomon!" Kari gasped. Gatomon was leaning against the tent's support beam, obviously knocked out.   
"Oh, Gatomon. You'll be okay," Kari whispered softly as she picked up the cat Digimon and cradled her in her arms. Gatomon slowly opened her eyes.   
"Kari?" she mumbled, looking up at the young girl. Yuuchi gasped when he saw Houdinimon hover inside the tent.   
"T.K., Kari, look out!" he shouted.   
"What's wrong, my friends? Not enjoying the show?" Houdinimon asked sarcastically. "Time for a little Card Trick!" Three playing cards appeared in his hand and he flung each one at Yuuchi, T.K., and Kari. The card sent toward Yuuchi exploded above his head, causing a cloud of thick smoke to rain down on him and Nanmimon. They coughed as they tried to clear away the smoke.   
"Oh, no!" T.K. exclaimed as one of the cards flew straight toward him.   
"T.K.!" Patamon shouted. T.K.'s digivice suddenly went off. "Patamon digivolve to...Angemon!" Using his gold staff, Angemon knocked the card away from T.K. The card exploded a good distance away from them. Kari gasped as the card flew right past her head, cutting off a few strands of her hair, and embedded itself in the support beam.   
"That does it!" Gatomon shouted as she jumped out of Kari's arms. Through the smoke, Yuuchi could barely see a small dot of pink light. As the smoke cleared, Yuuchi noticed that the strange pink glow was coming from Kari's chest. "Gatomon digivolve to...Angewomon!"   
Yuuchi gasped when he saw the two newly digivolved Digimon.   
"No way! Angels?" he exclaimed.   
"Hand of Fate!" Angemon shouted.  
"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon shouted. The two attacks nailed Houdinimon in the chest and, for a moment, it looked like he was defeated.  
"All right!" T.K. exclaimed.   
"Don't get your hopes up, kid!" Houdinimon snapped as he stood up.   
"Danger Illusion!" He flung out his arms, and a gold powder spread from his hands and gathered together, forming a tall, thin figure.   
When the figure was complete, T.K. and Kari gasped.   
"It's Myotismon!" Kari exclaimed. The sinister vampire chuckled evilly as he eyed the young girl and Angewomon.   
"Don't worry, Kari," Angewomon assured as she prepared to attack Myotismon.   
"No! Don't, Angewomon!" Nanmimon shouted. His warning came too late.   
"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon shouted as she shot one of her arrows. To everyone's surprise, the arrow nailed Myotismon, but he wasn't fazed at all.   
"I tried to warn you, Angewomon," Nanmimon reminded her. "That's Houdinimon's Danger Illusion. He'll create an illusion of an old enemy that looks just like the real Digimon. The illusion can't hurt you unless it absorbs energy from one of your attacks." "Attack, Myotismon," Houdinimon instructed his illusion. The illusion of Myotismon nodded.   
"Crimson Lightning!" he shouted. The familiar bolt of red lightning appeared and struck Angewomon right in the stomach.   
"No, Angewomon!" Kari shouted as her Digimon flew overhead and crashed right onto the stage. Myotismon then focused on T.K. and Yuuchi.   
"Grisly Wing!" he shouted, sending out his army of black bats. Yuuchi tried to swat away the bats around him and Nanmimon.   
"Hand of Fate!" Angemon shouted. His attack managed to disintegrate some of the bats. "How are we gonna get rid of this Myotismon if we can't even destroy him?" Yuuchi asked as he continued swatting at the bats. Nanmimon's lavender eyes focused on Houdinimon, who was watching the battle with amusement.   
"You attack the source," Nanmimon muttered out loud as he galloped toward Houdinimon.   
"Psybeam!" he shouted. The beam of light emitted from his forehead nailed Houdinimon in the chest. Since he wasn't expecting the attack, Houdinimon lost his concentration and the images of Myotismon and the bats disappeared.   
"You'll pay for that!" Houdinimon yelled angrily as he knocked Nanmimon over to one side. The horse-like Digimon hit the support beam hard, knocking him out cold.   
"Nanmimon! NO!" Yuuchi shouted. He turned around and realized that Houdinimon's cold eyes were now focused at him.   
"You're gonna pay for what your Digimon did to me," he yelled as he steadily approached the boy.   
"Hey, I didn't even tell him to attack you!" Yuuchi admitted nervously as he backed away. His green eyes quickly glanced over at T.K., Kari, and Angemon, who was helping Angewomon get up.   
"T.K., Kari, get outta here now!" he shouted to them.   
The two kids reluctantly left the tent. Angemon followed them, carrying Angewomon in his arms.   
"Those two won't go far," Houdinimon told Yuuchi.   
"But, for now, I'll settle for you." As this was going on, Nanmimon was slowly regaining consciousness.   
"Huh?" he muttered as his eyes steadily came into focus. He gasped when he saw Houdinimon about to attack Yuuchi.   
"Yuuchi!" Nanmimon shouted. Suddenly, Yuuchi felt something vibrating like crazy on his waist. He quickly looked down and saw that it was his digivice going off.   
"Ahh! That light!" Houdinimon shouted as he let go of Yuuchi and shielded his eyes with his cape. Yuuchi looked up and noticed that the light was coming from Nanmimon.   
"No way! He's digivolving!" Yuuchi exclaimed.   
"Nanmimon digivolve to...Neo Nanmimon!" Yuuchi looked in astonishment at the huge gray horse standing where Nanmimon once was. He had bright yellow hooves, a navy blue mane and tail, and a dark turquoise stripe running down the center of his face. Neo Nanmimon still had the green triangle on his face, but his eyes have changed. They were now a deep violet.   
"Okay, Neo Nanmimon. Let's get that creep!" Yuuchi shouted.   
"A newly digivolved Digimon doesn't scare me. Card Trick!" Houdinimon shouted, flinging two cards straight at Neo Nanmimon.   
"Psychic Blast!" Neo Nanmimon shouted. His eyes glowed bright and a beam came from them, destroying the cards. "Psychic Blast!" he shouted again, launching a blast of psychic power at Houdinimon. Houdinimon dodged the attack, reappeared behind Neo Nanmimon, and hit him hard with his cane.   
"Are you all right?" Yuuchi asked.   
"Don't worry about me!" Neo Nanmimon shouted as he kicked Houdinimon in the stomach with his hind feet.   
"You may have defeated me this time, kid, but next time, you won't be so lucky!" Houdinimon shouted before he vanished into thin air. Neo Nanmimon glowed and shrunk as he de-digivolved.   
"Whoa! Are you okay, Nanmimon?" Yuuchi asked as he helped his Digimon stand up. "I'm fine, Yuuchi," Nanmimon assured him. "Just a little tired."   
The two gasped as the tent surrounding them suddenly disintegrated. The thin gray haze was gone as well.   
"What happened?" Yuuchi asked uncertainly.   
"Since we defeated Houdinimon, he no longer has control over the carnival,  
" Nanmimon explained. "All of his illusions disappeared along with him."   
"Yuuchi! Nanmimon!" they heard Kari shout. With the tent gone, they easily found Kari and T.K. As they ran to them, Yuuchi noticed that Gatomon and Patamon were back to normal.   
"Are you guys all right?" Yuuchi asked.   
"Uh-huh," T.K. replied.   
"What happened to Houdinimon?" Kari asked.   
"Don't worry about him, Kari," Nanmimon told her. "He's gone...for now."   
"Come on, guys. We better go find the others," Yuuchi announced. As they walked down the path, Gatomon looked up at the Ferris wheel, which was peering over the other buildings. She was so focused on the Ferris wheel that she stopped walking.   
"What's wrong, Gatomon?" Kari asked.   
"Sora and Mimi went on the Ferris wheel, right?" Gatomon asked.   
"Yeah, so?" Yuuchi asked.   
"Do you think they're still up there?" Gatomon asked, pointing at the ride.   
"Guess it wouldn't hurt to check," Yuuchi remarked as they ran toward the Ferris wheel. "Hey! Up here!" they heard Mimi shout. Yuuchi looked up and saw Mimi, Sora, Palmon, and Biyomon in the seat on top of the Ferris wheel, waving their arms at him.   
"Hold on! We'll get you down!" Yuuchi yelled up to them as he made his way to the lever. He pushed it forward, and the Ferris wheel started up again. As soon as the girls' seat was at the bottom, Yuuchi pulled it back, stopping the ride. He ran over to the Ferris wheel, where Sora and Mimi were lifting up the safety bar.   
"So, let me get this straight. While we were fighting an evil Digimon, you two were just hanging out?" Yuuchi asked.   
"It wasn't our fault," Sora explained.   
"Some Numemon pulled the switch on us."   
"That wasn't a real Numemon, Sora," Nanmimon explained. "That was just an illusion created by Houdinimon."   
"Umm, come again?" Mimi asked curiously.  
"Long story," Yuuchi quickly stated. "Did you see anyone while you were up there?"   
"We didn't see anyone," Biyomon told him, "but we did hear some yelling from over there."   
She pointed at an old tent, which was still standing. unlike the other tents.   
"I'll check it out," Yuuchi muttered out loud as he ran to the tent, followed by Nanmimon. When they entered the tent, the twosome found Zack, Izzy, Joe, and their Digimon tangled in a huge net.   
"Lemme guess. Houdinimon?" Yuuchi asked. The entrapped boys and their Digimon nodded as Yuuchi and Nanmimon tried to untangle the net. Nanmimon bit through some of the net, creating a hole big enough for everyone to get out.   
"Thanks a lot, guys!" Gomamon exclaimed as he got out of the net, following Joe.   
"How did you find us, Yuuchi?" Zack asked as they walked out of the tent.   
"Biyomon said that she heard some noises from in here," Yuuchi explained. As they walked back to the Ferris wheel, T.K. was telling Sora and Mimi about what happened. "Houdinimon almost got Yuuchi, but then Nanmimon digivolved into Neo Nanmimon! He was so awesome!"   
"You really think so?" Yuuchi asked, his face becoming flustered.   
"Uh-huh," T.K. replied, nodding his head.   
"T.K.!" the kids heard Matt shout.   
"Kari!" Tai yelled. T.K. and Kari smiled as their older brothers ran toward them, followed by Agumon, Gabumon, Marni, Snakemon, Marisa, and Chamelamon.   
"Kari, you're awake!" Tai exclaimed.   
"Of course," Kari replied. "Then that must mean...Hey, Yuuchi!"   
"What's up, Tai?" Yuuchi asked.   
"I wanna thank you for helping Kari and T.K.," Tai explained as he extended his hand to Yuuchi.   
"Gee, thanks, Tai," Yuuchi exclaimed as he shook Tai's hand. "But, I can't take all the credit. Nanmimon was the one who knew about the flower, and he was the one who scared off Houdinimon." Nanmimon blushed from the comment.   
"Thanks, Yuuchi," he admitted.   
"Now that that's over, let's get outta here," Tai ordered as he led everyone out of the carnival...   
Houdinimon walked down a long dark corridor. As he approached Armaggedamon's throne at the end, whispers were heard from either side of the corridor, coming from the other evil Digimon. Their glowing red eyes glowed brighter as Houdinimon stopped a few feet short of the throne.   
"Please forgive me, Armaggedamon," he begged as he bowed to Armaggedamon.   
"You've failed to deliver the Digi-Destined to me, Houdinimon," Armaggedamon's deep voice retorted angrily. Houdinimon kept his head down, waiting nervously for Armaggedamon's orders for him to be destroyed for failure.   
"Since you're a valuable and loyal servant, your life will be spared this time," Armaggedamon replied. Houdinimon slowly lifted his head.   
"But, don't think your failure will go unpunished," Armaggedamon added as he snapped his fingers. Instantly, a pair of Bakemon appeared.   
"Escort him to the dungeon," Armaggedamon ordered.   
As the two Bakemon dragged Houdinimon down the corridor, the glowing red eyes of Armaggedamon looked back and forth at the other Digimon.   
"The same goes for the rest of you," Armaggedamon's deep voice boomed. "Failure is not acceptable, and will not go unpunished. I want those Digi-Destined kids captured and brought straight to me. Understand?" There were murmured approvals up and down the corridor...TO BE CONTINUED   
  



End file.
